BuCor OIC replaced

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered yesterday the replacement of the officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) after relieving officials of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City following the grenade explosion that rocked its maximum security compound last Friday.

In Department Order No. 981, De Lima recalled the designation of Parole and Probation Administrator Manuel Co as officer-in-charge of BuCor and assigned National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Rafael Ragos to the post.

However, De Lima clarified that Co’s relief does not imply that he was being held accountable for the incident. She said she only wanted an official who can focus on perennial problems hounding the bureau pending the decision of President Aquino on the fate of BuCor director-on-leave Gaudencio Pangilinan.

“I am very grateful and appreciative of all the hard work and sacrifices of Administrator Manny Co while he served as OIC of the BuCor. It is not an easy job to head one agency, and it is that much more daunting to head two agencies simultaneously, especially when one of them comes with tremendous challenges like the magnitude of those that accompany the post of OIC-BuCor director,” de Lima said in a statement.

De Lima said she chose Ragos as Co’s replacement since he has “the fire, toughness and single-mindedness of character to immediately install drastic but effective changes to address the major problems in the BuCor, such as smuggling and trade in illegal drugs and other contraband.”

As OIC, Ragos is tasked to oversee the day-to-day administration of BuCor operations under the direct supervision of De Lima.

His new duties, however, will not include “the power to act on matters involving policy determination, the approval of long-term contracts and transactions, the appointment or dismissal of personnel, and other matters that go beyond acts of mere supervision or administration.”

De Lima has also named the replacement of the four NBP heads who were relieved from their posts following the grenade attack that left six inmates injured and again highlighted smuggling of contraband inside the national penitentiary.

In Department Order No. 982 also issued yesterday, she designated Guillermo Ayala as OIC of NBP.

Ayala, the current superintendent of Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, takes the place of NBP chief superintendent Ramon Reyes, who has been placed on floating status.

De Lima also named Josie Bayawa of the BuCor legal office as new superintendent of the maximum security compound in place of Roberto Rabo; NBP asst. superintendent Celso Bravo as new superintendent of medium security compound in place of Dante Cruz; and Alfredo Devaras of the BuCor Reservation Support Service as new superintendent of minimum security compound replacing Gerardo Aro.

Just like Reyes, Rabo and Aro were also placed on floating status.

Cruz, on the other hand, was designated to Iwahig prison.

Apart from the NBP officials, De Lima also ordered the relief of all jail guards in the three compounds of the penitentiary. She said she would sign the hiring of 100 new jail guards to replace them.