BuCor not building jail in Masungi

MANILA, Philippines — No jail will be constructed in the 270-hectare property of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in the Masungi Georeserve in Tanay, Rizal.

BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said only a detachment for forest rangers would be built in the area.

Catapang said BuCor has “obligations and responsibilities in the conservation of the area as part of national heritage.”

“We are one with the Filipino people in preserving our natural resources,” he said in a statement.

Catapang said there are 20 to 30 hectares of “vacant spaces” in Masungi that can be used as a detachment for forest rangers.

He said the BuCor, in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, would conduct a delineation survey in May to ”determine the meets and bounds of BuCor property that we need to secure.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda had earlier urged the BuCor to avoid constructing establishments in its property in Masungi.

Catapang said the Masungi property was earlier eyed as a relocation site for the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa but the plan was shelved.

Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded BuCor’s property in Masungi in 2006.