Fifteen policemen who allegedly smuggled contraband items into the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa could be expelled from government service, the National Police Commission said Tuesday.

The Napolcom is investigating if there is enough evidence to start administrative proceeding against the officers who brought tobacco, alcohol and mobile phones into the prison, said the commission's Vice Chairman and Executive Officer Rogelio Casurao.

"The way it was reported in the news, ako [ay] naniniwala na grave misconduct ang nararapat din d'yan. Sobra ho ang violation na iyan," he told radio DZMM.

(I believe that a grace misconduct complaint should be filed. That is a serious violation.)

"Biro mo inaasahan na ikaw ang magmamatyag d'yan, ikaw pa ang pasimuno. Doble-doble, hindi ka na kumilos nang tama, may breach of trust ka pang ginawa,"

(You were expected to keep watch there, but you were the instigator. That's a double offense, you didn't act properly and you also committed breach of trust.)

Policemen from Metro Manila and the elite Special Action Force were deployed to the national penitentiary as the Bureau of Corrections fought allegations that some prison guards and officials pocketed bribes in exchange for prisoner privileges.

President Rodrigo Duterte in September fired BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon over questionable release of several heinous crime convicts, replacing him with Gerald Bantag, a former jail warden who faced homicide charges in connection with a 2016 jail blast that left him wounded and 10 prisoners dead in Parañaque.

DZMM, October 22, 2019