De Lima names Bureau of Corrections OIC

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has designated an officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to oversee daily operations of the bureau while BuCor director Gaudencio Pangilinan Jr. is on leave following the disappearance of convicted killer Rolito Go at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.

While De Lima has been designated by President Benigno Aquino to take over Pangilinan’s duties pending his leave of absence, the justice secretary designated Manuel Co, the current administrator of the parole and probation administration as BuCor OIC under her direction.

“The OIC shall oversee the day-to-day administration of the operations of said bureau under the direction of the… Secretary of Justice, who shall continue to directly attend to the management of the BuCor with the assistance of the OIC,” said De Lima in a Department of Justice (DOJ) order she issued Wednesday.

DOJ order No. 678 made it clear that Co’s duties as BuCor OIC did “not include the power to act on matters involving policy determination, the approval of long-term contracts and transactions, the appointment or dismissal of personnel and other matters that go beyond acts of mere supervision or which, by their nature, are essentially within the authority of the Secretary of Justice.”

Co previously sat as BuCor OIC when former Director Ernesto Diokno was investigated for the Antonio Leviste caper last year. With Tetch Torres, INQUIRER.net

Originally posted at 03:52 pm | Wednesday, August 22, 2012