Puno - BJMP Officers no Longer Jailers, but Caretakers

March 21, 2010

Secretary Ronnie Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said officers of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology should no longer consider themselves as plain jailers, but as “caretakers of people” who play a key role in rehabilitating detainees on their watch to help them become productive members of society.

He said this shift in the “philosophy” underlying the BJMP’s task of overseeing the country’s district, municipal and city jails,   will greet the 21 graduates of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) who chose to be assigned to the jail bureau.

Puno  said the  BJMP, whose current Director is Chief Supt. Rosendo Dial, is now implementing several capacity building programs and beefing up its facilities to embrace this new philosophy of restorative justice, which is a drastic shift from the “corrective” character of the bureau.

“The BJMP’s role has changed. As custodian, it is now the caretaker of the people who are placed under their watch and this requires serious discipline on our part,” Puno said.

Two more district jails will be constructed this year and additional prisoner vans will be procured to enhance the BJMP’s capability in securing inmates on their watch, Puno noted.

He pointed out  that since majority of those detained in BJMP-supervised jails are not yet convicted of the crimes they are accused of, its jail officials should ensure a positive, more humane approach while these inmates are under their care and responsibility.

Puno is a principal proponent of the restorative justice approach that seeks to enable inmates,  most especially those who are neither hardcore criminals nor recidivists or relapsed criminals, to lead productive lives even behind bars, and to clear the way to their swift rehabilitation and reintegration into mainstream society following their release from jail.

A total of 198 cadets of the “Mabikas” Class 2010 completed their degrees in Bachelor of Science in Public Safety at the PNPA this school year. Of these graduates, 159 chose to be assigned to the Philippine National Police, 21 to the BJMP and 18 to the Bureau of Fire Protection.