Escudero pushes for BuCor’s modernization

LEGAZPI CITY, August 26 (PIA) -- With its day-to-day operations still based on the Prison Law of 1917, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is in dire need of an overhaul to cope with the modern demands of penology.

Senator Francis Escudero thus filed Senate Bill No. 2933, seeking for the modernization and professionalization of the country’s national correction facility to make it compliant with the United Nations (UN) standards.

Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said the present state of BuCor is in subhuman conditions and rather than being reformatory, Philippine jails have become more punitive, which runs contrary to penology standards set by the UN.

“BuCor has been running in obsolescence. Its laws, facilities and equipment, and organizational structures are all outdated and outmoded. It needs to be restructured so it can be as efficient and as effective to implement its mandate on day-to-day operations,” Escudero said.

BuCor has not seen a major legislative updating since 1905, except for a change in its name –formerly called the Bureau of Prisons – pursuant to the Revised Administrative Code of 1987.

In 2009, the inmate population was at 35,400 and manned by 2, 632 employees, or a prison-guard to inmate ratio of 1:81. The international standard of guard-inmate ratio is 1:6.

The agency has the same number of employees it had since 1989. The ratio is continuously increasing at an average rate of five percent annually.

“The BuCor was created specifically to be in charge of safekeeping and instituting reformation programs to national inmates sentenced to more than three years. Reform isn’t anywhere with its dilapidated facilities, congested prisons and archaic operational system and structure,” the senator explained.

In his bill, Escudero is pushing for the safekeeping of inmates that shall include decent provisions of quarters, food, water and clothing in compliance with established UN standards.

Likewise, BuCor’s custodial force consisting of corrections officers will be undertaken with a ranking system and salary grades similar to its counterpart in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

BuCor lags miserably behind BJMP in terms of personnel remuneration. Entry level for a jail officer at BJMP is Salary Grade (SG) 10, while its counterpart at BuCor receives a salary equivalent to the pay of SG 5. Unlike BJMP, BuCor custodial personnel are not considered uniformed and therefore are not entitled to salary increases, bonuses and other standard benefits.

“Promotion system in this agency has also been subjective. There are prison guards who are retiring after 40 years or more in service without having a taste of promotion,” Escudero said.

Escudero added that BuCor can only achieve modernization and professionalization if its facilities are upgraded, the number of its personnel increased, the level of qualifications of their personnel upgraded and its base pay, retirement and other benefits are standardized. (MAL/Office of Sen. Escudero)

KALAHI-CIDDS Stakeholders convene In Camarines Sur
by Lizel S. Macatangay

NAGA City, August 26 (PIA) -- In support of the poverty alleviation program being pushed by President Benigno Aquino III, member-agencies and stakeholders of the Provincial Inter Agency Committee (PIAC) convened at Regent Hotel yesterday to discuss various strategies on how to strengthen their implementation of pro-poor projects in the countryside.

Using the community-driven development (CDD) approach, the Kapit Bisig Laban Sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDDS) provides its beneficiaries with the necessary skills while empowering them to be self-reliant. Small-scale infrastructures which were identified based on the need of the community were also constructed to compliment the development needs of a particular barangay.

Some of the developmental ventures that have already been implemented include construction of farm to market roads, water systems, school buildings, day-care centers, drainage systems, multipurpose hall and seawalls, among others.

Mr. Arwin Razo, Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Officer IV said that the programs encapsulated in KALAHI-CIDDS is geared towards the empowerment of the community, making them as partners in development and not as mere passive recipients.

“DSWD, as the leading government agency entrusted with the obligation to carry out pro-poor programs is also directed to specifically prioritize far-flung areas, including upland and island barangays which have been deprived of government assistance. Upon identification, we then put into action and instigate the principles of localized decision making, transparency, simplicity and sustainability among others,” Razo stated.

The KALAHI-CIDDs, which started in 2002, has already funded 666 community infrastructure interventions from 2003 to 2009 amounting to P779, 668,600.26. Seventy (70%) percent of this were grants were allocated and downloaded to the community accounts.

The poverty alleviation program of PNoy was further given a lift when the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) allotted a 434M US Dollar grant for the implementation of KALAHI-CIDDS in selected areas in the Bicol Region. The locale covered by the said funding includes barangays Bagamanoc and Caramoran in Catanduanes and the towns of Capalonga and Sta, Elena in the province of Camarines Norte .

In Camarines Sur, KALAHI-CIDDS / Makamasang Tugon (MT) programs will have its full implementation in eight (8) of its municipalities. It include 17 barangays in Balatan, 32 barangays in Del Gallego, 18 barangays in Presentacion, 23 barangays in Garchitorena, 25 in Minalabac, 19 in Sangay, 22 in Siruma and 19 barangays in Pasacao.

The said programs, once fully realize are expected to promote sustainable growth and will help reduce poverty across the nation. (LSM, PIA Casmarines Sur)

30 farmers train on organic vegetable, seed production
by Rosalita Base-Manlangit

DAET, Camarines Norte, August 26 (PIA) -- Some 30 farmers trained on organic vegetable and seed production to improve farm yield and income for sustainable development of the agricultural sector in the province.

The training was spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) of the provincial government attended by the said farmers and also municipal coordinators and technicians of the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) in the province.

Acting provincial agriculturist Francia Pajares said that the training will give farmers knowledge on how to plant vegetables using organic fertilizers and how to produce seeds to be use in their next cropping.

The topics discussed for the first day include: organic vegetable farming, integrated pest management and organic seed production while for the second day topics are: natural farming system and vermi composting or using vermi worms waste for composting.

The training aimed farmers to have knowledge on how to make organic fertilizer and organic chemicals to be used in planting vegetables so that they will not buy commercial chemical fertilizers which are bad to health.

She added that organic vegetable farming will have more harvest and in return additional income for farmers.

Resource persons were: Ligaya C.Tria, Regional Farmers Association Coordinator and Gloria B. Salazar, Regional Vegetable Focal Person of the DA; and Arlene Dayo, Municipal HVCDP Coordinator ng Goa, Camarines Sur. (MAL/RBM/PIA Camarines Norte).