(MB FILE PHOTO)
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is aiming to integrate the country’s penology and correction system by taking over the responsibilities of managing provincial jails.
BJMP spokesman Supt. Jayrex Joseph Bustinera disclosed on Friday, July 18, that the proposal is part of the “Philippine Development Plan Chapter 13.2” which addresses the blueprint for creating a unified penological and correctional system.
“I think this aspiration or first step for the BJMP to absorb the provincial jail now and in the future, as what DILG Secretary Remulla noted, is a work in progress,” Bustinera stated.
Currently, Bustinera explained that there are 61 provincial jail facilities nationwide that are not managed by the BJMP, but implementing similar mandates to bring persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) to justice and rehabilitate them.
Bustinera admitted that the country has “a fragmented correction system,” and changes should be implemented to correct it.
He noted that the PDLs incarcerated at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) are those serving more than three years of prison term while the about 140,000 PDLs languishing in the BJMP’s 485 jail facilities are serving less than three years of jail time.
During the BJMP’s 34th anniversary celebration on July 2, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla announced plans to integrate the BJMP and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), following the directive of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to streamline resources and address jail congestion.
The BuCor is an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ) while the BJMP is supervised by the DILG.
“It is a proposal, a work in progress, and one that will be done in consultation with you. You must know what we are doing, how we are doing it, and be part of the integration,” Remulla said.
Remulla commended BJMP’s role in transforming the lives of PDLs, noting that while the work is rarely in the spotlight, it is essential to public safety and rehabilitation.
“Ang trabaho ng BJMP is to keep the country safer, to rehabilitate, and to ensure PDLs can return as contributing members of society. What you do matters (The BJMP’s mandate is to keep the country safer, to rehabilitate and to ensure PDLs can return as contributing members of society. What you do matters),” Remulla insisted.
He cited the drop in national jail congestion from 314 percent in 2024 to 296 percent this year, along with paralegal aid to 85,183 PDLs. BJMP has also declared 230 jail facilities drug-free and 77 drug-cleared through surprise inspections.