Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said in an interview that around 320 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) troopers are now in charge over the security at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
The SAF troopers will take over security posts in the prison for a few months while 200 NBP employees undergo retraining for possible reassignment to other penal colonies across the country, Aguirre said. The Marines may take over security posts at the NBP and replace the SAF after two months, with Marine Maj. Gen. Alexander Balutan, who will be taking an early retirement in August, sitting as the head of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). Aguirre earlier said that he has the blessing of President Rodrigo Duterte to make drastic changes at the NBP, adding that he considers the BuCor as the most corrupt agency in the entire bureaucracy.
