Demolish Bilibid — overhaul Bureau of Corrections

“Oh what a wondrous web we weave when first we try to deceive” – Sir Walter Scott

I cannot thank Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra enough for sending off the balloon that alerted all parties concerned about the impending release of Convicted rapist-killer Antonio Sanchez. Because of a single statement, not only was the release thwarted on time but it has brought national attention to an even bigger problem, which is the destabilizing effect of the GCTA law or Good Conduct Time Allowance law. Aside from the Sanchez release we have now heard about the release of 4 or 5 Chinese Drug Lords, as well as the probability that more than a handful of hardened criminals such as kidnappers and the likes have all gone free instead of serving out their prison terms.

But while all of us focused on blocking the release of Antonio Sanchez not many Filipinos gave sufficient attention to the accountability of institution or the “system” that facilitated the controversial release of hardened criminals namely the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the national penitentiary a.k.a Bilibid. Based on the allegations of Senator “Ping” Lacson and his informants inside the Bilibid, the system is so corrupt that the GCTA may have become the password for hundreds of millions of pesos of bribe money to exchange hands. A number of media resource persons have already questioned the integrity and transparency of the GCTA process especially after the lawyer for the BuCor refused to give the names of the released Chinese drug lords stating that the members of media would have to go to court to compel him. I guess a lawyer for the BuCor or Bilibid is now more powerful than President Rodrigo Duterte who signed the Executive Order called Freedom Of Information. Imagine that, the BuCor defends the identity and privacy of released convicts while the DOJ has no qualms about publicly naming defendants who are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

By its own accounts, corruption prevails in almost all facilities of the BuCor judging simply from the constant need to conduct raids just to clean out jail cells of illegal drugs, weapons, sex toys, disallowed appliances, bundles of cash, etc. Respected lawyer Lorna Kapunan even shared in our program AGENDA how she and her client discovered that food deliveries or “catering trucks” were being used to transport illegal contraband in and out of Bilibid. Over the weekend, I heard supporters of the GCTA on radio and an interesting point was the alleged complaints of poor and deserving prisoners who are more than qualified under the GCTA to go free but can’t because they don’t have relatives willing to do the footwork or act as “Fixers” for their release. If the idea is to decongest Bilibid, why not work on the release of those in “Minimum prison” first starting with the poorest of the poor?

Given all the controversy perhaps it is high time for President Rodrigo Duterte to consider the demolition of Bilibid and the complete overhaul of BuCor. Very little attention has been given to address the blatant corruption and incompetence inside Bilibid and the BuCor and the recent controversy makes it already impossible to ignore and not act upon. It has been suggested time and again that the government replace Bilibid with several regional detention facilities and relocate prisoners based on their family origin or presence of relations. By doing so we can break up the Prison Mafia that now controls Bilibid, make it easier for prison managers to do their jobs, as well as create a more humane system so prisoners can be visited by relatives. Some countries might even be able to give us assistance on building better facilities and system to run our state penitentiaries.

Since the demolition of Bilibid and relocation of facilities regionally will take many years, it would be best for Secretary Guevarra to immediately initiate an overhaul of the BuCor, conduct lifestyle checks, professional competence assessment and retraining of personnel. Perhaps he can even ask some political appointees inside BuCor and Bilibid to tender their resignation to the President in lieu of the very embarrassing scandal created from their handling of the GCTA.

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The race is on to beat the deadline imposed by the DILG for local governments to reclaim public roads and clear streets from obstructions and illegally parked vehicles. As expected the Mayors are all crowing that they are on schedule and will be able to comply with the deadline. But I personally have a problem regarding what qualifies as “Compliance.” As Filipinos we have long had the “Puede Na” mentality where mediocre work or minimum effort is used as the standard. In Metro Manila, politicians and government officials have used media exposure as a way of giving the impression that they are on the ball and getting things done. This is why the nightly news is full of sledgehammer heroes smashing structures along the sidewalk and the likes.

But a careful review of many places show that many streets and sidewalks especially in “Commercial zones” remain obstructed or blocked by delivery vans and pick-ups. People still placing “reserved parking” signs, construction companies using sidewalks to stockpile materials. Some places even have devotional altars or religious structures on sidewalks, security guards with shotguns telling they can’t park on the street in front of “their” establishment. Another thing that might be missed is the over abundance of home made signs or business signs that confuse motorists and obstruct sidewalks. I hope that when Secretary Año and his officers conduct their evaluation, it will be done based on “Full Compliance” and not “Puede Na.”

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