Inmates getting health care services – BuCor chief

CORRECTIONS Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. yesterday assured the public that inmates in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and six other operating prison and penal farms nationwide are provided with health care services.

This even as congestion continue to hound the national penitentiary and other Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) prison and penal farms.

Aside from the NBP in Muntinlupa City, BuCor also operates the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro; Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte; and the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.

Catapang made the assurance during Monday’s ceremonial signing of the National Policy on Promotion and Protection of Health in Jails, Prisons, Custodial Facilities, and Other Places of Detention held at the Manila Hotel, where he said that healthcare services is one of the basic needs of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

He said that since they are incarcerated, the State assumes the responsibility for their right to health.

“I see to it that that the provision of appropriate and continues healthcare services were given to them the same way with that of the free community,” Catapang said, adding that the signing of the policy would guarantee a strong collaboration among concerned agencies leading to better health outcomes with the automatic inclusion of inmates in the National Health Insurance Program.

He said inmates will also be granted immediate eligibility to PhilHealth packages pursuant to Republic Act 11223, otherwise known as the Universal Health Care Act.

Under the policy signed yesterday, the BuCor, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Immigration, Philippine National Police, and National Bureau of Investigation are mandated to allocate funds and resources and ensure the strategic directions in the implementation of policies, plans, and programs for health and development in places of detention, materials or management documents to support the implementation of the Healthy Places of Detention.

“This endeavor will further improve the quality of