Manila, July 24 -- Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Pio Catapang Jr. on Friday said there are no political prisoners at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) or anywhere within the bureau's correctional facilities in the country.

Catapang made this clarification in response to a petition filed by a group, KAPATID, and signed by 45 individuals claiming to be political prisoners, requesting the Department of Justice to stop their transfer from NBP to other operating prisons and prison farms.

"What we have under our care are persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who committed crimes against the state," Catapang said in a statement.

He said the transfer of PDLs from NBP to other Operating and Prison Farms (OPPFs) is part of BuCor's deco...