MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) acquired a newly trained Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to boost its security in prisons under its supervision.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima presided over a program at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, marking the graduation of 27 SWAT members who recently completed their training and the mass promotion of 88 BuCor employees.
The “well-equipped, well-trained” new SWAT team will be put to good use at the NBP which reported three stabbing incidents on Monday at the maximum security compound (see related story on Page A23), De Lima said. The justice secretary noted that the NBP has a guard-prisoner ratio of 1:62 when the ideal should be 1:20.
Meanwhile, the promoted employees were from the agency’s seven penitentiaries nationwide, including the NBP, BuCor Director Franklin Bucayu said.
De Lima, whose agency oversees the BuCor, admitted that the mass promotion was long overdue. “The last set of promotions was in 2004. Some have been long overdue by as much as 41 years. Maybe it was overlooked and not given importance by the [BuCor] management. They were more focused on the problems of inmates rather than the personnel,” she said.
“Perhaps one of the reasons for the delay was because [the BuCor] was waiting for the rationalization plan and the BuCor modernization law,” De Lima added. The BuCor modernization law was passed last year although its implementing rules and regulations were still being drafted.
The law will pave the way for an increase in BuCor employees’ salary grades, which De Lima admitted was currently “far below that of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.” “[BuCor] employees are truly pitiful in terms of salary grade and upgrades so they have had little motivation and incentive,” she noted.
NBP superintendent Fajardo Lansangan, who has worked for the BuCor for 40 years, was among those promoted on Tuesday. “I became a Penal PIS (custodial officer) in 2000. I was promoted only after 14 years. Three years to go and I will be retiring. But at least, I still attained this promotion so I can improve my service,” Lansangan said.
“The [promoted personnel] are happy because their salaries will be increased. All the same, we are waiting for the modernization law. Among uniformed agencies, we have been left behind. Before, we used to have the highest [salary grade] because we are a national agency. We hope our higher-ups can draft the implementing rules and regulations for the law faster,” he added.