DOJ chief bullish on new prisons chief

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Tuesday he is confident that retired police Chief Supt. Benjamin delos Santos was the right man to head the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

Aguirre described the former head of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group as someone who “gets the job done.” He said a man like Delos Santos was needed by the Department of Justice in its ongoing reforms at New Bilibid Prison, which had been used by convicted drug lords as their base of operations in the previous administration.

“Director Delos Santos is a person of competence and integrity. I believe he can implement our President’s reform agenda in the BuCor,” said Aguirre.

Aguirre said the new BuCor chief’s mandate was to stop “drugs, corruption and criminality” inside the NBP in Muntinlupa, the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, and five other penal colonies in Davao, Zamboanga, Palawan, Leyte and Occidental Mindoro.

Mr. Duterte signed Delos Santos’ appointment papers on Nov. 18, replacing retired police Chief Supt. Rolando Asuncion, who stepped down as BuCor officer in charge on Monday.

Delos Santos is the latest alumnus from the President’s school, San Beda Law School, and Lex Talionis fraternity brother to join his administration.