New Bilibid Prison. INQUIRER file photo
Manila, Philippines鈥揂n eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a toilet at a notorious Philippine prison, officials said Saturday, fuelling a national uproar over revelations that its inmates were 鈥渓iving like kings鈥� with stripper bars and jacuzzis.
The girl, who was visiting her inmate father at Bilibid prison in suburban Manila on New Year鈥檚 Day, was found sprawled on the bathroom floor, naked from the waist down and with a rope tied around her neck, officials said. Initial medical tests did not indicate that she had been raped.
鈥淭he incident involving the eight-year-old is nothing short of deplorable,鈥� presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte told AFP.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said an inmate had confessed to attacking the girl and would face additional criminal charges.
鈥淗e rendered her unconscious, strangled with the intention of raping her,鈥� de Lima said.
The assault came three weeks after a police raid of the prison found stashes of drugs, cash and guns 鈥� as well as sex dolls, a stripper bar and a jacuzzi 鈥� spread across an astonishing network of air-conditioned 鈥渧illas鈥� built for powerful crime lords.
One inmate, bank robbery gang leader Herbert Colangco, had a recording studio in his villa, where he made a full album of love ballads.
Colangco鈥檚 YouTube posts also revealed that he staged elaborate shows inside the prison gymnasium where he was cheered by crowds waving pink pom-poms.
鈥淲e are trembling with anger. We are sick and tired of this system,鈥� Dante Jimenez, chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, told AFP.
Jimenez, called on President Benigno Aquino to overhaul the entire prison system and transfer Bilibid to an island, similar to the former maximum-security prison on Alcatraz in the United States.
鈥淭hey should be surrounded by sharks and crocodiles,鈥� he said.
Bilibid, the nation鈥檚 biggest prison, is infamous for overcrowding and brutal conditions 鈥� it was built to accommodate 8,900 inmates but currently houses more than 23,000.
Philippine jails have long had a reputation for corruption, but the scale of privileges enjoyed by kingpins at Bilibid shocked the nation.
The government is 鈥渢aking measures to stop any and all possible criminal acts inside the penitentiary鈥�, Valte said.