BuCor eyes more prison facilities

THE Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is pushing to establish additional prison facilities across the country, including high-security sites for persons convicted of heinous crimes, as part of efforts to decongest existing prisons.

In a statement on Monday, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang, Jr. said the plan involves setting up 13 regional prison facilities and two more facilities dedicated to heinous crimes, a move he said would build a “more equitable and effective correctional system.”

The expansion program is based on Republic Act (RA) 10575, the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, which provides for the establishment of Regional Prison Facilities, and also follows RA 11928, which calls for separate facilities for individuals convicted of heinous crimes in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

At the 2^nd Jail Decongestion Summit in Manila last week, BuCor noted it currently operates in only five of 18 regions nationwide, with facilities in the National Capital Region, Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Davao Region.

This leaves large parts of the country without a BuCor-managed correctional facility, including the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Negros Island Region, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, according to the agency.

Mr. Catapang said BuCor has started establishing a Super Maximum Facility (SMF) in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, to serve Luzon, but noted that no SMFs for heinous crimes have yet been set up in the Visayas and Mindanao due to pending site identification and resource allocation.

He said the shift would ease pressure on existing prisons and align the country’s correctional practices with international standards, adding that proactive measures are needed to address gaps in the system. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking