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- BuCor confiscated thousands of cellphones inside the National Bilibid Prison.
- Netizens said that the government could’ve just reformatted the items and donated them to those who can’t afford gadgets for their online classes.
Thousands of mobile devices were destroyed by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) after they were confiscated from the inmates of the National Bilibid Prison.
Many of the gadgets were even connected to the internet.
According to BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag, they confiscated 3,817 cellphones, 101 units of pocket WiFi, 7 laptops, and 1,724 cellphone chargers. She emphasized the importance of the operations and how the agency is working hard amid the pandemic.
“Very significant itong gagawin nating activity ngayon dahil hindi po tayo tumitigil sa gitna ng pandemic sa ating regular na trabaho sa Pagliarini’s sa loob ng piitan.”
Mobile phone boosters, accessories, game consoles, and power banks were also confiscated.
https://twitter.com/pnbarcelonlive/status/1293826393034260480
BuCor’s decision to destroy all the gadgets didn’t sit well with the netizens as there are currently around 6.8 million parents worrying about the money to get their children a gadget that they could use for “remote learning”.
Many people find it a waste to destroy everything as the government could’ve just donated it to those who are in need.
https://twitter.com/kohlensuson_/status/1294166083658813445
ok but you could've donated that sa mga unprivileged students na walang pang online class 🙃 https://t.co/InH366OzQq
— denver! (@oplanpinta_) August 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/gbgustilo/status/1293970827134738432
It was also mentioned that there was a sudden rise in the number of people asking for donations online in order to afford gadgets to be used for schooling.
Almost 4,000 phones, a hundred pocket Wi-Fi units, and almost 50 tablets and laptops, all bulldozed, all while Filipino students have to beg for money on social media to scrape money to buy gadgets for online learning. https://t.co/nZ4nJbpleL
— Regine Cabato (@RegineCabato) August 13, 2020
People also stated that gadgets can be reformatted so that it can be used as if it was good as new.
Imagine if they’re using their brains. This could've been a perfect opportunity to reformat and reprocess all and give out to students who don’t have access to these gadgets for their online classes. Pero tangina wala eh, intelligence left the country. https://t.co/NJ503Woxkp
— Kerwin King (@imkerwinking) August 13, 2020
They srsly couldve reformatted and donated them to students who need it. Pota kaya di umuunlad pilipinas e https://t.co/xDHrDRxTH2
— pixie 🍉 (@strawberriesoy) August 13, 2020
A netizen also called the move “performative” and a “shitshow.”
https://twitter.com/medsmeddd/status/1293877412908818432
The gadgets were collected from multiple precincts since December 18. Other confiscated items included cigarettes and tobacco sticks which were manually made and rolled by the inmates.
