Duterte names BuCor chief after 2 years

Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR) Director Gerald Bantag INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — More than two years after heading the prisons agency, Gerald Bantag was finally appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as the director-general of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

Bantag took his oath of office before Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday. Bantag’s appointment paper was signed by Duterte on March 4. Prior to this development, Bantag was only seconded to the BuCor from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). BuCor is under the Department of Justice, while BJMP is under the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Bantag was appointed to head the BuCor in September 2019, replacing Nicanor Faeldon, who was sacked by Duterte following the release of heinous crimes convicts after an alleged misapplication of the good conduct time allowance law.

Before being assigned to the BuCor, Bantag was the director of BJMP in the Mimaropa region after working as jail warden of Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Parañaque, and Manila. Bantag graduated from the Philippine National Police Academy, and was the first to be a four-star general in his class. —DEXTER CABALZA

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