BJMP dared: Improve management of jails
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Catalino S. Cuy is challenging the new Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) leadership to improve jail management in the country.
In posing the challenge, Cuy said he does not want to hear about illegal drug trade and prison breaks in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) jails.
On Tuesday, BJMP Acting Chief Deogracias C. Tapayan replaced former Jail Director Serafin P. Barretto Jr., who reached the mandatory retirement age of 56.
“We have initiated steps within the bureau to make sure that we play our role in the government’s anti-drug campaign,” said Cuy.
He noted the BJMP’s role in the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign, aside from just stopping the proliferation of drugs inside the jail facilities.
“The BJMP, being a member of the newly-formed Inter-Agency Council against Illegal Drugs (ICAD) has a vital role in curbing the problem,” Cuy said.
“Congestion is a real concern since the number of inmates swelled when the drug campaign started,” he added.
Cuy also said he is for building extensions of jail facilities as a way of easing congestion.
He encouraged all jail officers to present their list of needs to their congressmen or the senators so that they become aware of the situation.
“By this time, dapat aware na tayo that hardcore inmates should be segregated from those who are not,” Cuy said, citing the case of Kerwin Espinosa who learned the ropes of drug trafficking while in prison.
He also expressed his trust on DILG Assistant Secretary Nestor F. Quinsay Jr., overseer of BJMP and the BFP, that “the concerns of both bureaus will be addressed accordingly”.
Quinsay assured that aside from decongestion efforts, welfare programs for inmates as well as bureau personnel are being planned and implemented.
“Our jails are not dead-ends but a place in preparation for a new beginning for detainees when they get back to the normal stream of society,” he said.
BJMP has 12,183 personnel looking after 149,331 inmates in 466 jails.