MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – While many legislators are pretty much focused on reinstating the death penalty in the Philippines, Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros has proposed a more humane alternative.
Hontiveros wants convicted murderers, rapists and others convicted of heinous crimes to be “deported” to San Francisco and be forever locked up in a solitary cell on Alcatraz island.
Alcatraz, of course, is recognized worldwide as the “prison of no escape.”
The lady Senator unveiled her proposed bill a day after Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Bill No. 1004 seeking to establish maximum security prisons in isolated and uninhabited islands for heinous crime convicts and high-risk prisoners.
Zubiri filed the bill in the wake of the near release of rape and murder convict Antonio Sanchez, a former mayor of Calauan in Laguna, under the good conduct time allowance (GCTA).
In an exclusive interview with The Adobo Chronicles, Hontiveros said her office will work to draw up a Memo of Agreement with U.S. authorities to allocate a certain number of prison cells in Alcatraz for high-profile Filipino convicts, possibly including Sanchez.
Hontiveros’ legislative staff, however, seem to have failed to do basic research about Alcatraz.
Alcatraz today is no longer a prison but a national recreation area managed by the National Park Service — a popular destination for tourists visiting the San Francisco Bay Area.