BuCor to set up forest rangers detachment, not jails, in Masungi Georeserve
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Tuesday, April 16, said it will set up a detachment for forest rangers, not a facility for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), in its 270-hectare property in the Masungi Georeserve in Tanay, Rizal.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said the detachment is needed “to secure the lot under our jurisdiction and we have obligations and responsibilities in the conservation of the area as part of national heritage and we are one with the Filipino people in preserving our natural resources.”
“The bureau with proper coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will also conduct delineation survey sometime next month but do not misconstrued this to anything because we only want to determine the meets and bounds of BuCor property that we need to secure,” Catapang said.
Catapang's statement was issued in response to the appeal of Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda that the BuCor refrain from constructing establishments in its property in Masungi.
Catapang said that the BuCor, under the guidance of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, is committed not to use the Masungi property for any purpose that will adversely affect the ecology and sustainability of the area.
He admitted that the Masungi property was earlier eyed as a relocation site for the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City but was finally shelved.
BuCor’s property in Masungi was awarded in 2006 by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.