THE additional manpower and infrastructure development have boosted the morale of jail officers in Eastern Visayas under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
Senior Superintendent Felixberto Jagorin Jr., the regional director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Eastern Visayas, said this following the groundbreaking ceremony of the new district jail dormitory building in Sogod, Southern Leyte on September 20 and the ongoing professional training of its personnel.
“Our BJMP is very high morale as far as the resources that we have,” said Jagorin, noting on their new building projects and incoming 12 units of prisoner transport vehicles.
In an interview with SunStar Philippines, Jagorin said they have recruited 47 additional jail officers this year.
“The logistics support given by the national government to BJMP is increasing,” he added.
While the BJMP in the region has yet to meet the standard ratio of one jail officer per seven persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) inside their facility, Jagorin said he remained thankful of the “good support” from the local government units.
At present, the region has nearly 500 jail personnel and a total of 3,100 PDLS.
Jail Superintendent Manuel Chan, assistant regional director for administrations, also said their office continues to give more training for the capability building of their jail officers.
Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Xavier Solda, head of the BJMP’s community relations service office in Manila, said they are keen on filling the manpower needs of the agency.
According to Solda, they have 2,000 “quota” to be filled for the next year.
“Sa kasalukayun, undermanned naman talaga ang BJMP...Pero nagpapasalamat kami kasi when Duterte started ay na double ang usual na quota na ibinigay sa amin. Previously kasi 500 lang talaga. Ngayon, naging 1,000 hanggang naging 2,000,” he said in a separate interview.
To solve their manpower problem, Solda said they received support from the Philippine National Police and Philippine Army particularly when they are escorting high-profile or high-risk PDLS.
Solda also said their agency is focused on the “cleansing” of their ranks, saying that any BJMP personnel who are involved in illegal drugs “must be removed from service.”
“We can’t afford to rehabilitate people behind bars, yet we have the unscrupulous personnel,” he added.
Solda said their other focus is on the rehabilitation of PDLS and their infrastructure, particularly on the regions where there is heavy congestion of jail facilities.
According to Solda, the BJMP has close to 13,000 personnel who are manning 486 jail facilities across the country. (SunStar Philippines)