Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Saturday asked newly appointed Bureau of Corrections director general Gregorio Catapang Jr. to keep an eye on employees since some of them may have helped inmates commit crimes even while they were detained.
Dela Rosa served briefly as BuCor chief in 2018 under the Duterte administration.
“Unang una, tignan niya ang mga tauhan niya lahat kung sino dyan ang matino at kung sino ang hindi matino at dyan siya magstart kasi ang problema naman talaga ng ahensya ay doon sa mga tao na kung saan naiinvolve sa mga kalokohan sa loob,” the senator said in a radio interview when asked what advice he could give to Catapang.
(First of all, he should check to see who among his personnel is good or not. He should start there because the real problem with the agency is the people who are involved in the unlawful things inside the penitentiary.)
“Hindi naman lalakas ang loob ng mga preso na ‘yan sa loob ng Bilibid, gagawa ng kalokohan, kung wala silang mga kakuntsaba na mga guwardya so talagang isa-isahin niya mga tao niya kung sino ang matino at hindi, at gawan niya ng karampatang aksyon,” he added.
(If they don’t have accomplices among the guards, those inmates won’t have the courage to commit crimes within the New Bilibid Prison, so he should keep an eye on personnel to see if they’re good or bad and take the necessary action.)
Dela Rosa added that Catapang might only be under less stress since some drug lords have passed away.
“Marami namang drug lord namatay baka hindi na gaano mabigat ang problema dyan. Okay na kokonti na lang problema niya,” he said.
(Maybe now his problem is not so big because many drug lords have died. He has fewer problems to tackle.)
Catapang was appointed BuCor chief by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. after serving as officer-in-charge for five months.
Dela Rosa welcomed this development since an OIC only has limited authority.
“That’s a good development dahil kapag officer-in-charge dadami ang problema ng ahensya dahil walang full authority yung OIC na magpirma ng mga papeles at vouchers pati mga sweldo dyan magkakaproblema. Kaya maganda yun para magampanan niya ng husto yung hinahawakan niyang posisyon,” Dela Rosa said.
(That’s a good development because if you’re an OIC, the agency’s problem will grow because the OIC does not have full authority to sign papers and vouchers; even the payment of salaries could be affected. That’s good for him since it allows him to carry out his mandate completely.) — VBL, GMA Integrated News
