MORE than 400 new correction officers have been added to the workforce of the Bureau of Corrections to address the continued increase in the number of prisoners needing to be secured.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said the 454 new officers, 379 of them males and 75 females, completed the prescribed training under the Corrections Basic Recruit Course (CBRC) on Friday, June 23.
Catapang said the graduation of the new officers will “boost the number of BuCor personnel as mandated by Republic Act 10575, also known as the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013.”
The top achievers of the class are CO O1 David Caimoy, CO1 Princess Mae Etulle, CO1 Robin Gacias, CO1 Demie Anne Zedice Yamon, CO1 Joyce Marie Gonzaga, CO1 Doris Stephanie Abella, CO1 Jay Quisay, CO1 Rasheena Jane Encarnacion, CO1 Jep Omehang and CO1 Rachael Reponte.
Meanwhile, CO1 Steven Zenrick Gaspar received the Leadership Award, CO1 Robin Gacias- Tactical Leadership; CO1 Romello Belloca and CO1 Demie Ann Zedice Yamon for the Marksmanship, and CO1 Jayson Lampago and CO1 Sheryl Villasi bagged the Bernardo Carpio award.
Early this year, the BuCor said it needs to hire 800 new correction officers annually until 2028, or a total of 4, 000 officers, to address the increasing number of inmates in its prison and penal colonies.
The agency has added over 900 new correction officers to its ranks since Catapang took the post in an acting capacity in October 2022.
BuCor data showed the first batch of the new recruits composed of 467 took their oath as new correction officers on December 5, 2022, followed by 516 on December 29 for a total of 983 new correction officers.
Prior to their recruitment, BuCor only had 4, 239 corrections officers and 389 corrections technical officers to guard the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City and six other prison and penal farms nationwide, namely, the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga city, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte.
From only 32,314 PDLs in 2007, the number has skyrocketed to 50,126 as of December 2022.
The correction officer-to-inmate ratio also rose in the same period from 1:22 to 1:27.
Of the inmates, 29,530 are currently detained at the NBP’s maximum, medium and minimum-security compounds. The NBP was built to accommodate only 6,435 PDLs.
