BuCor launched program that removes inmates’ tattoos to end gang culture

In a bid to end gang culture that sparks violence in prison facilities, the Bureau of Corrections launched the "Oplan Bura Tatak."

Corrections chief Gerald Bantag said the program aims to stop infighting among members of rival prison groups. Under the program, prison tattoos of inmates who are also members of various gangs are removed to give them a fresh start.

More than 12,000 inmates in all prisons across the country had their gang tattoos covered up. As of November 12, a total of 11,962 inmates had their gang tattoos removed the BuCor reported.

Of that number, 6,804 were prisoners in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Most of those who got their gang tattoos removed were inmates in Bilibid’s medium security compound, 5,598, followed by 636 prisoners in the maximum security compound. At the Reception and Diagnostic Center, where newly convicted inmates are housed, 447 got their tattoos erased.

Completing the list were 117 inmates in the minimum security and six convicts who were freed but returned to Bilibid because of a question about their good conduct time allowance.

Other inmates also had their tattoos removed: 2,484 in the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan; 408 in San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga; 156 in Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro; and 60 in the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.

All of the 2,050 inmates who have gang affiliations in Leyte Regional Prison had their tattoos removed, while the Davao Prison and Penal Farm has been gang free “for some time,” according to BuCor.