(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a total revamp at the Bureau of Corrections.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the revelation on Wednesday, Sept. 18, a day after Duterte appointed Gerald Bantag at the helm of the agency hounded by corruption issues.
According to Panelo, the revamp involves the transfer of personnel from the provinces to Metro Manila.
Panelo said the President made the decision to put a stop to corruption.
Announcement of the revamp came following the release of convicts of heinous crimes under the Good Conduct Time Allowance law allegedly due to loopholes in the law and due to corruption.
Justice Menardo Guevarra and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año have approved the implementing rules and regulations of the law revised by a joint Department of Justice and Department of the Interior and Local Government panel following the controversy.
Under the new IRR, convicts of heinous crimes are explicitly excluded from availing of the benefits of the law that reduces the sentence of inmates due to good conduct or other activities.
The panel has also been given another 60 days to review the uniform policy and guidelines for GCTA accreditation.
The Ombudsman is conducting a separate probe and has so far suspended over 27 BuCor personnel over the mess.
Guevarra has also ordered Bantag to clean up the GCTA, implement computerization and put a stop to the illegal drug trade inside the prison.
