Marcos Jr. appoints new chief for jail bureau
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has appointed Jail Director Ruel Rivera as the 10th chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Malacañang announced on Monday night.
This comes months after Rivera, then jail chief superintendent, assumed his post as BJMP acting chief in March.
He is taking over the post held by Director Allan Iral, who availed of optional retirement from service after he reached the maximum tour of duty of four years as bureau chief on June 23.
“In his new role as BJMP chief, Rivera is expected to continue working on the BJMP’s J.A.I.L. Plan 2040, the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG’s) Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan”’ (BIDA) Program, and the Marcos Administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, committed to the BJMP's mandate of providing secure, reformation-oriented, and well-managed jail facilities across the country,” the bureau said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
The BJMP’s J.A.I.L. plan is its Journey for Advancement, Innovation and Long-term Development Plan 2040 where the bureau aims to become a “world-class agency highly capable of providing humane safekeeping and developmental opportunities for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL),” the BJMP said.
Rivera is a member of the Philippine National Police Academy Patnubay Class of 1995, where he obtained his degree in public safety.
He has been in public service in the past 28 years, starting as a warden of municipal, city and district jails and later becoming the steward of Manila City Jail in 2011.
“Throughout his career, the new BJMP chief has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, strategic thinking, and a deep understanding of the complexities and challenges faced by the Jail Bureau,” the BJMP said.
It added: “He played a vital role in implementing innovative programs and initiatives aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the BJMP's operations and the rehabilitation of [Persons Deprived of Liberty].”
Jail congestion
Among the perennial problems Iral will face at the BJMP is jail congestion.
The Commission on Audit in its 2022 report on the jail bureau said that nearly 68% of 478 jail facilities are considered “heavily congested” with occupancy rates (how many detainees are inside a facility) ranging from 101% to 2,739%.
The state auditor said that the rise in PDL population can be attributed to the increase in new detainees following the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, and slow action from courts due to lack of personnel, postponement of hearings and slow disposition of criminal cases.
Some detainees also cannot afford bail—which has prompted the Department of Justice to order the reduction of bail for indigent persons to 50% of the suggested amount or P10,000, whichever is lower.
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There are also moves to build new correctional facilities to house detainees, but the United Nations’ Office of Drugs and Crime’s handbook states that this is “generally ineffective.”
"Evidence shows that as long as the shortcomings in the criminal justice system and in criminal justice policies are not addressed to rationalize the inflow of prisoners, and crime prevention measures are not implemented, new prisons will rapidly fill and will not provide a sustainable solution to the challenge of prison overcrowding," the guidebook read. — with reports from Cristina Chi
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