BuCor penalizes 119 personnel in the past 2 years

Bureau of Corrections. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — As part of its effort of weeding out misfits, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has penalized 119 of its personnel in the past two years.

BuCor data showed that of the 119 personnel, 20 were dismissed, 70 were suspended, 19 were reprimanded, and 10 were fined.

The cases of disciplined personnel range from gross neglect of duty, misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service to serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, neglect of duty, and insubordination.

Catapang said the number of penalized BuCor personnel indicates their commitment to cleaning the agency of undesirables and to uphold integrity and accountability within BuCor.

“This is a clear message that we will not tolerate any misconduct and inefficiencies in our organization while we will reward with promotion those who will uphold our ethical standard to ensure effective and fair delivery of public services,” he added.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and BuCor have been implementing reforms to improve conditions within the penal facilities. It includes the transfer of Bilibid inmates, which is a “stop-gap” measure to alleviate overcrowding in the national penitentiary while the agency waits for funding for the construction of regional correctional facilities as part of its medium as well as the long-term development and modernization plan.

BuCor is operating six prison and penal institutions: New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City; Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City; Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City; Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro; Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte; and Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao.