'Diokno departure a warning to government executives'

MANILA, Philippines -  Malacañang said yesterday that President Aquino’s prompt acceptance of the resignation of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Ernesto Diokno should serve as a warning to Cabinet members and other government officials who might be accused of negligence, abuse or incompetence.

Diokno’s resignation also came amid the President’s declaration that he was constantly evaluating his Cabinet members’ performance and that he was thinking of giving one of them another assignment.

Diokno submitted to Aquino his irrevocable resignation last Monday at the height of the controversy over the unauthorized trips of homicide convict and former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste outside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

The discovery of Leviste’s “prison break” has sparked calls for investigation into other irregularities in the NBP, including the granting of privileges to wealthy or influential prisoners.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda and deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said that with Diokno’s resignation, the focus now would be on the implementation of reforms in the prison system.

Valte said in a press briefing at Malacañang that officials were aware that they were serving at the pleasure of the President.

Lacierda, for his part, said in a statement that the President had “constantly stated that loyalty or a shared history will not be a factor in settling this (Diokno’s) issue.”

When he was still a police officer, Diokno had helped keep stable the administration of Aquino’s late mother Cory.

“As Justice Secretary Leila de Lima herself has stated, Director Diokno acted honorably, sparing the government a tedious legal process. Our efforts can now be fully focused on ensuring that the wheels of justice turn smoothly and swiftly, and on implementing further reforms in our correctional system,” Lacierda said.

“The government and the public can move on rest assured of the closure that Director Diokno has gracefully granted his country,” he said.

Valte said in Diokno’s case, the administration has sent a message to officials that “competence must be there to discharge the duties that are mandated by your office and to do so professionally and without any partiality.”

The President said on Monday after announcing Diokno’s resignation that there were problems in the prison system that he wanted addressed immediately, and not just the special treatment of certain detainees.

He noted the congestion in jails and the need to provide better facilities and programs for the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Reforms

De Lima, meanwhile, said that one of the reforms she wanted put in place is the revocation of “sleep-out” privileges for some inmates in the minimum security area.

“I think the sleep-out privilege should not be adopted at all. There should be prohibition on sleep-out privileges,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.

She stressed that inmates should also not be given “greater privilege” to build or spend nights in huts outside the NBP compound. But “living out” privileges might be considered for inmates who are either old or about to finish serving their sentences.

She said the DOJ, which has supervision over BuCor, plans to include these privileges in its review and revision of the 2000 manual covering the penitentiary system

“There should be clear guidelines, standards and parameters because right now the implementation of these privileges is arbitrary since it’s not in the manual and the discretion really is with the superintendent,” she explained.

The DOJ chief believes that proper implementation of “living-out” privileges could even contribute to decongesting prisons.

Inmates at the minimum security compound are

granted living-out status and can roam around the NBP reservation during daytime but are required to return to their cells at night. This was reportedly part of BuCor’s program to help the prisoners reintegrate into society.

Sleep-out inmates, on the other hand, can spend the night in private homes inside the prison compound. A total of 109 inmates are reportedly enjoying this privilege.

De Lima also said Diokno’s resignation did not come as a surprise.

“It was really an option for him after that Leviste incident. Although when we talked last week, he said he wanted first to prove that he was not liable, but the panel and myself had a different view,” she explained.

De Lima said she believes Diokno may have focused on the drug problem in NBP and overlooked other irregularities such as the VIP treatment for some prisoners.

Shortly before Diokno’s resignation, the DOJ submitted a report to Malacañang recommending administrative action against the former BuCor chief.

Bishops also for reforms

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care executive secretary Rodolfo Diamante echoed calls for reforms in the penal system.

“While we welcome the resignation of Director Diokno, we call on President Aquino to create an independent body that will study our penal system and determine what reforms need to be done,” Diamante said.

He also proposed that former Parole and Probation administrator Ismael Herradura be appointed as Diokno’s replacement. He called Herradura “a man of integrity.”

“His record as a government official is impeccable. He is one with us in advocating for reforms in our penal system. He knows the correction pillar and what is wrong with it and what needs to be done,” Diamante said.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday the resignation of Diokno is not enough to cover up Aquino’s “improvident and partisan exoneration” of his errant officials.

Lagman said other erring officials of the Aquino administration should also resign like Diokno.

“The resignation from government of an errant presidential friend like former Director Ernesto Diokno… will not compensate for the improvident and partisan exoneration of other appointees who have breached the law or committed culpable negligence in the present administration,” Lagman said in a statement.

“Moreover, the agenda of vindictiveness aggravates the erosion of President Aquino’s popularity and trust ratings, while partisan propaganda cannot cover up for the feeble leadership and absence of economic vision of the Aquino administration,” he said.

Modernization

The House committee on justice, meanwhile, tackled yesterday bills proposing to modernize the BuCor.

During the hearing, it was disclosed that Leviste was not alone in enjoying the so-called sleep out and live out privileges.

NBP chief Ramon Reyes said that prior to the cancellation of privileges, prison officials extended sleep out privileges to 109 inmates and live out privileges to 419 inmates.

Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, one of the authors of the bill, noted that the population growth rate for inmates nationwide stood at five percent or two points more than the national population growth rate, but there were no corresponding increase in personnel or resources.

Biazon noted that in 20 years, the number of NBP inmates has jumped from 13,000 to 22,000 yet the number of jail personnel has gone down.

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo proposed that the BuCor head be given a fixed six-year term.

“To my mind, granting a fresh and solid mandate of six-year term of office for one who will be appointed as head of the bureau insures the commencement and gestation of highly relevant plans, programs and projects that could be implemented efficiently, effectively, and economically,” Castelo said. Aurea Calica, Edu Punay, Paolo Romero, Evelyn Macairan