Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan (Facebook)

Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan has belied claims that his proposal to establish a new Department of Corrections and Jail Management (DCJM) would just end up bloating the bureaucracy. 

In the contrary, Yamsuan said his proposal would actually "rightsize” the Philippines’ jail management system and "ensure that government resources are used prudently and efficiently in running the country’s penal and reformation facilities". 

In a statement Wednesday, Aug. 6, the rookie lawmaker said that the aim of his measure, House Bill (HB) No.8672, was for the government to achieve “greater efficiency and accountability” in overseeing the country’s jails and prisons.  

The measure seeks to establish the DCJM. Once institutionalized, it will supervise over the various bureaus and offices in charge of managing the country’s penal and reformation programs for inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).   

“Rightsizing the bureaucracy is not just about trimming or abolishing offices and departments. Rightsizing also means restructuring  to improve performance. This is the primary objective of my proposal to create a new department or line agency that would integrate all the agencies involved in managing our correctional systems,”  said Yamsuan, a former assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).  

Under his proposed measure, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) of the Department of Justice (DOJ); the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) of the DILG; the correctional and jail services of the provincial governments, the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP); and the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) will all be placed under the DCJM.  

The appropriations of these transferred offices will go to the DCJM in the initial year of the measure’s implementation. Thereafter, the amount necessary to carry out the functions of the DCJM shall be included in the national budget.  

Yamsuan said his proposal to place these agencies under a single authority is similar to the move creating the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), which unified the various agencies catering to the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).  

Creating the DCJM will help cut red tape within the current setup of the  jail management system, where the need to go through layers of authority often hamper the efficient delivery of services, Yamsuan said.  

He said the  DCJM will also help professionalize the personnel manning the jail management system, since it is mandated under HB No.8672 to establish the Corrections Training Institute. 

This shall be patterned after the BuCor’s Corrections Training School and the BJMP’s National Jail Management and Penology Training Institute.