Pimentel proposes incentives for companies that will hire ex-convicts

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, is proposing incentives for companies that will hire ex-convicts.

“It’s a fact of life that employers would naturally choose a normal applicant over an ex-convict. By proposing incentives to companies that will hire ex-convicts, we equalize the playing field for ex-cons,” Pimentel said in a statement on Wednesday.

To decongest prisons and speed up the delivery of justice in the country, the senator is also proposing the creation of a new department in government that will handle the major functions of the prison system.

At a recent hearing of the committee, Pimentel noted that the prison system’s major functions are split between the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) “fostering inefficiencies that have caused jail congestion and delays in the delivery of justice.”

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which manages those that are accused of a crime, falls under the DILG, while the Bureau of Corrections, which has jurisdiction over the convicted ones, is under the DOJ.

“It will be more efficient if we have one department to manage both,” Pimentel said during the hearing.

This was just one of several reform measures that the senator want  to initiate to address what he described as the worsening jail congestion problem in the country.

Pimentel said he would conduct a “spot-checking of BJMP prisons to ensure that there are no more overstaying prisoners.”

This move, he said, would help government decongest BJMP prisons and give justice to overstaying prisoners.

Pimentel pointed out that 97 percent of BJMP detainees “are not yet convicted.”

“Justice dictates that if a detainee has already served the maximum prison term for his alleged crime, then he should be let go and set free,” said the senator.

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