Remulla eyes reevaluation of BuCor personnel

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla | PHOTO: INQUIRER.net/Daniza Fernandez

MANILA, Philippines — A reevaluation of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) personnel is being planned, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Thursday.

Remulla shared that he is discussing the plan with the BuCor officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang Jr.

“We will be very, very strict kaya nga we have to reorient the people. Ang problema namin talaga dito ay kung dating tao rin baka lumang tugtugin din.

(We will be very, very strict. That is why we have to reorient the people. Our problem is that if we put the same old people in, nothing will change.)

“We will try to check kung sino ba talaga ang pwede magtrabaho nang honest kasi napakahirap nitong ginagawa natin,” Remulla said in an interview at the Senate.

(We will try to check honest individuals because our work is difficult.)

While the secretary did not vow 100-percent success, he promised they “will do everything to succeed” in their endeavor.

The reevaluation will allow the DOJ and BuCor to identify the personnel who will be sent to other prison facilities across the country.

Asked if there are personnel who may possibly be removed in the reevaluation, Remulla replied: “We’ll just do early retirement.”

Recently, the BuCor seized contrabands, thousands of canned beers and shabu (crystal meth), inside the New Bilibid Prison’s (NBP) maximum security compound.

Meanwhile, BuCor director general Gerald Bantag has been suspended to give way for an investigation on the death of the alleged middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid.

Lapid’s gunman, Joel Escorial, confessed that the kill order came from someone inside the NBP, which BuCor runs.

JMS/abc