Aquino signs law to modernize prisons, professionalize corrections personnel -INQUIRER.net

Aquino signs law to modernize prisons, professionalize corrections personnel

By Christine O. Avendaño, Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 28, 2013

MANILA, Philippines — The government is now in position to institute reforms and better conditions in the country’s prisons now that President Benigno Aquino has signed a law that will modernize the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), according to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

The reforms will include hiring more personnel to guard the country’s prisoners now numbering 37,232.

De Lima said President Aquino signed last May 24 Republic Act no. 10575 or the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, a law designed to enable government to upgrade prison facilities, professionalize the bureau and increase the salary and benefits of its personnel.

“With the new law, we can now improve prison facilities, recruit more corrections officers, and implement more responsive reformation programs for inmates,” said De Lima, whose office released a copy of the new law to reporters.

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EDITORIAL - Manhunt for Palparan

EDITORIAL - Manhunt for Palparan
(The Philippine Star) Updated December 29, 2011

How hard is it to find a prominent fugitive in this country? Hard enough for the government to dangle a reward of P500,000 for information leading to the capture of retired Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. The man who reinvented himself as a party-list representative upon his retirement from the military has disappeared since his arrest was ordered by the Bulacan Regional Trial Court shortly before Christmas Day.

Palparan is wanted in connection with the disappearance of University of the Philippines student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006. The two, who remain missing, were reportedly tortured and detained at an Army camp in Central Luzon when Palparan was the Army’s commander in the area. Palparan has denied involvement in the disappearance of the students.

The last time Palparan was seen, according to the National Bureau of Investigation, he was in the company of heavily armed men. Palparan owns a security agency. He had tried to fly to Singapore on Dec. 19 through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga, shortly after the Department of Justice ordered his indictment for kidnapping and serious illegal detention. After being barred from leaving, he disappeared.

Read more @ www.philstar.com