MANILA, Philippines – Newly appointed Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. relieved the superintendent of the New Bilibid Prison’s maximum security compound, including all prison guards in the area, as part of his internal cleansing program.

On Wednesday, April 12, Catapang led the change of command and changing of the guards ceremony at the Bilibid compound. Corrections Senior Inspector Purificacion Hari replaced Corrections Chief Inspector Lucio Guevarra as the new maximum compound superintendent.

Prior to her appointment, Hari was the compound’s Commander of the Guard. As the maximum security compound’s new superintendent, Hari will now oversee the over 10,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) detained there. She would also deal with Very Important Presos (VIPs) and gang system inside the compound.

The BuCor chief also announced that the 700 prison guards assigned to the maximum compound will be replaced by 335 new prison guards.

Catapang told reporters that the new guards are from batches 17, 18, and 19, who have undergone training under the corrections bureau. Thirty-five of the new guards, who hold the ranks of corrections officer 2 and 3, are from the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan. The “more senior” officers will guide the new guards, according to Catapang.

When asked why he chose to transfer some personnel from the Palawan penal facility to Bilibid, Catapang said he based the selection on the officers’ track record and performance. The BuCor chief also noted that 335 prison guards are enough to maintain the maximum security compound.

They will also be given body cameras that they will use during their duties, Catapang added.

In 2022, the Department of Justice, which oversees the BuCor, also relieved then-maximum compound’s superintendent after four PDLs escaped.

Extent of violations

In explaining why he relieved all the prison guards of the maximum compound, including the superintendent, Catapang said he had long sought to replace the guards because some of them allegedly committed violations against BuCor’s rules and regulations. The BuCor chief, however, clarified that not all 700 relieved guards allegedly violated the said rules.

Catapang said that in his months in office, he has yet to see any improvement in the national penitentiary. The BuCor chief said he still receives information about some guards’ misdemeanors. The following misconduct were allegedly committed by the guards:

• Tampering of closed circuit television to avoid being observed by high-ranking officials
• “Palitan” (bribing) in locker rooms
• Dishonesty in attendance (some guards did not report physically, but someone would sign the attendance on their behalf)
• Some guards stationed at the maximum compound were spotted instead in Bilibid’s agro-industrial park, under bamboo trees

The BuCor chief said some of the guards might face administrative sanctions or criminal complaints, depending on their violations. Overall, the BuCor was able to file less than a hundred cases and complaints – both administrative and criminal – against erring officials and personnel since Catapang took over in October 2022.

Meanwhile, the relieved prison guards will undergo refresher training under prisons expert and criminology professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Raymund Narag.

“You will undergo retraining, and you will be assigned with other prison and penal farms,” Catapang said on Wednesday, addressing the sacked prison guards.

For the newly-assigned prison guards, Catapang said he will ban lockers in stations and pockets in uniforms to avoid misdemeanor among guards that involve money. Cellphones will also be banned permanently and new guards will communicate through BuCor communication channels, Catapang added.

The relief of prison guards and their superintendent is the latest in Catapang’s long list of actions taken inside the BuCor. When he took over the post in an acting capacity in 2022, Catapang exposed a massive hole within the BuCor compound that was excavated under then-BuCor chief Gerald Bantag.

Under Catapang, who was also a former military chief during former president Benigno Aquino III’s time, BuCor also sued Bantag for alleged corruption and for allegedly torturing PDLs and BuCor personnel. – Rappler.com