Former Philippine National Police chief and now senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa brought the elite Special Action Force to the New Bilibid Prison to enforce tighter security.

Now-suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag later brought with him fellow officers of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to “clean up the mess” in the country’s prisons.

Now, BuCor officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang Jr. said he will literally let the dogs out to augment prison personnel.

“Hindi naman battleground o war zone ito. Maybe I will let the dogs out. Mga aso dadalhin ko dito. Ang aso, kung ano ang itinuro sa kanila, gagawin nila. Pag nakaamoy ng bomba, drugs, metal, uupo sila. They will do it and they will do it well. ‘Yan ang dadalhin ko dito,” Catapang said when asked on Monday if he will bring soldiers to the NBP.

Catapang is a former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff during the administration of former president Benigno Aquino III.

The BuCor OIC said he will deploy K-9 dogs in all entry and exit points of prisons and penal farms nationwide to ensure the non-entry of prohibited items. He also wants to have more CCTV cameras installed to monitor the movement of personnel, inmates, and visitors.

“Nagtatanong sila, paano bang labas-masok mga tao dito? Wala bang aso dito? K-9? Ang K-9 hindi pwedeng suhulan ‘yun eh. Makaamoy ng bomba, drugs, uupo ‘yun… We will bring back the K-9 unit and we will be stricter and more observant sa labas-masok, CCTV,” Catapang told reporters.

“Hopefully, we can also buy a monitoring device that can monitor calls kung hindi mahinto ang proliferation ng cellphones,” he added.

Catapang attended the opening program of the National Correctional Consciousness Week at the NBP on Monday, where he served as the guest of honor.

On his first day in office as OIC, Catapang signed an order "returning" all seconded BJMP members back to their mother unit, saying this will boost the morale of organic BuCor personnel.

“Wala naman (major) revamp. We’re just giving them back their jobs kasi nga, if I’m not mistaken, maybe 70 or 80% ng mga personnel dito were taken from BJMP. It’s just honorable for these people who are working here na naka-floating na pwede sa position,” he explained.