Duterte orders total revamp at BuCor after GCTA mess

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a total revamp of the Bureau of Corrections in the wake of controversy involving the early release of heinous crime convicts and other anomalies, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters that the President made the decision due to corruption in the BuCor.

“He wants to stop it,” Panelo said.

Panelo said the revamp would involve the removal of BuCor officials and employees and transfer of jail guards based in the provinces to the bureau.

The President’s order came a day after the Palace announced the appointment of Gerald Bantag as the new director general of BuCor, replacing Nicanor Faeldon, who Duterte sacked over the controversial release of heinous crime convicts.

Panelo said the revamp will also be an opportunity for Bantag to choose his own people.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also instructed Bantag to prioritize cleaning up the mess created by the implementation of the expanded law on good conduct time allowances (GCTA).

The BuCor has been at the center of controversy concerning the release of prisoners, particularly those convicted of heinous crimes, because their sentences were shortened by GCTAs according to an interpretation of a law that the government now considers wrong. —NB/BM, GMA News