Escudero calls for BuCor’s top-to-bottom reorganization

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero is seeking a top-to-bottom reorganization of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) before implementing the modernization law.

Escudero said the revamp should be carried out prior to the full implementation of the modernization law in order to pave the way for the much-needed upgrading of the penal agency’s facilities and increase in salaries of prison personnel.

“Replacing the head is not enough. That has been done several times before and it did not work,” he said in a statement on Tuesday, a day after Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, along with members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) conducted a surprise inspection Monday and discovered the luxurious lifestyles of some 19 high-profile inmates in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Escudero, one of the principal authors of the Republic Act 10575 or the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, said the BuCor should not condone the unlawful actions and suspected collusion of jail guards and inmates, and should immediately put a stop to the special treatment given to some prisoners.

The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10575 were signed by De Lima on December 12, a year after the law took effect. The IRR outlines specific rules that serve as guidelines throughout the implementation of the law, which is envisioned to professionalize, modernize and reorganize the BuCor.

As chairman of the Senate committee on finance, Escudero had been urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Budget Management (DBM) to speed up the release of the IRR of the Bucor’s modernization law during the 2015 budget deliberations in order to conform to the penology standards set by reputable international agencies and to address the pressing needs inside the penal facilities.

But BuCor Director Franklin Bucayu said a revamp had been scheduled by mid-December to cover the maximum, medium and minimum-security compounds of the NBP.

Escudero said the Bucor could not go full throttle in implementing the modernization law if the system would still be administrated by unscrupulous personnel.

“The modernization law will likewise upgrade the salaries of BuCor personnel at a ranking system and salary grades similar to its counterpart in the Bureau of Jail Management. Do we want to give this to rotten tomatoes in the system that is anathema to the law? A revamp is in order now,” said the senator.