Dela Rosa says BuCor ‘most neglected agency in the whole bureaucracy’

MANILA, Philippines — Amid corruption allegations hounding the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), its former chief said it is the “most neglected agency in the whole bureaucracy.”

Former BuCor director general and now Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said this in the wake of allegations that its officials are selling the early release of inmates under the controversial good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.

“Kung meron mang gumagawa ng kalokohan diyan, in any normal organization, meron talagang deviant diyan na gagawa ng kalokohan. Hindi naman lahat, unfair naman yan sa lahat ng taga-BuCor sasabihin mo, ‘Boom, BuCor masama,’ kawawa naman yung nagtatrabaho ng matino,” Dela Rosa said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel on Monday.

“Madali lang tayo mag-convict sa, maghusga sa mga tao na yan, when in fact, tanungin natin sarili natin, binigyan ba natin sila ng tamang pagtingin, kung ako ang tanungin niyo, BuCor is the most neglected agency in the whole bureaucracy,” he added.

According to Dela Rosa, the agency struggles to secure funding from the government.

“Hihingi ka ng pondo para sa repair ng building…napakahirap. Kasi ang the outlook of the government must be changed, kasi ganito tingin ng tao diyan, saka ng gobyerno: ‘Bakit natin priority sa fund allocation yung BuCor na yan? Mga latak ‘man yan ng lipunan, unahin natin itong judicial,” the neophyte senator said.

“So ganun ang pagtingin nila, napabayaan yan, isipin mo yung building diyan 1935 pa yang mga building diyan,” he added.

With limited resources, Dela Rosa said officials from BuCor are “trying their best” to provide reformation programs to the inmates.

“Sa awa ng Diyos, yung mga taga-BuCor they’re trying their best na maimplement yung reformation program sa mga inmates diyan,” he said.

“Talagang ginagawa nila kahit limited resources, nagsusumikap pa rin yung mag taga-BuCor diyan,” he added.

The agency has been embroiled in the “GCTA for sale” scheme controversy with the Office of the Ombudsman suspending 27 of its officials ordered six months in connection with an investigation that the anti-graft body was conducting into “the alleged anomalous release of prison convicts.”

READ: Ombudsman suspends 27 BuCor officials in freedom-for-sale scandal

This after  President Rodrigo Duterte himself ordered an investigation of BuCor officials in the wake of revelations that 1,914 heinous crime convicts were among more than 22,000 inmates released by the agency under the GCTA law.  /muf