SEEKING AN EXTENSION | Workers of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) are asking for another chance to comply with the BuCor law. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philipines — Over 300 Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) personnel who are in danger of being terminated next month for failing to earn a college degree and pass the civil service examination have asked for a two-year extension to comply with the law.
Under Republic Act No. 10575, or the BuCor Act of 2013, which took effect on March 15, 2018, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and possess the appropriate civil service eligibility. Current employees who do not meet the requirements were given five years or until March 15, 2023, to do so.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, lawyer Jose Ventura Asturias, the counsel of the affected personnel, some of whom have been with the BuCor for 30 to 40 years, said the two-year extension covers the period lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic, or from 2020 to 2022.
“The requirements, including off-campus programs and review classes, were not provided to the BuCor employees. The biggest justification [for their request] was the COVID-19 pandemic, where services provided by the BuCor and the CSC (or Civil Service Commission) were paralyzed,” he said.
5 years in the making
He stressed that under the law, government agencies should help affected BuCor employees, saying they were hopeful of getting the support of new BuCor and Department of Justice officials.
According to Asturias, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla had said that he would look into the matter.
“While there is already a law to be implemented, if its implementation becomes prejudicial and compromises those who are to be affected, then automatically there’s got to be a way to adjust it,” he said.
BuCor acting Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr., however, seemed less sympathetic, saying that the bureau had “made rigorous efforts” to address the concerns of affected personnel.
In a statement, he pointed out that the BuCor had asked the CSC for help three times. In response to the first request, the CSC allotted 50 slots in a Civil Service Examination–Pen and Paper Test (CSE-PPT) in August 2022 to bureau personnel. The number, however, represented only 16 percent of the affected employees.
Request for extension
In a letter on Oct. 13, 2022, the BuCor asked the CSC to extend the reglementary period for three years or until March 15, 2026, but “unfortunately, it did not prosper.”
Another request for an extension was made on Jan. 23 this year for the CSC to conduct a CSE-PPT for around 190 BuCor employees for two days from Feb. 1 to Feb. 10, but Catapang said “it did not yield a favorable outcome.”
According to him, the law has been in effect since 2018 “and now that the reglementary period is about to lapse on March 15, 2023, the Human Resource Action is required by the law of its implementation.”
CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada, meanwhile, said that while they were amenable to an extension for affected BuCor personnel, there should be a request from the bureau first.