Duterte sends off 250 new BJMP transport vehicles

A total of 250 transport vehicle units were distributed to the 17 regional offices of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology during a send-off ceremony led by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at Camp General Vicente Lim in Calamba City, Laguna on September 26, 2018. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

CAMP GENERAL VICENTE LIM, Calamba City — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday afternoon led here the send off ceremony for some 250 brand new transport vehicles of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to the country’s various district, city and town jails.

Lined up at the sprawling grandstand grounds, the 250 BJMP transport vehicles were considered the biggest acquisition in the bureau’s history following the President’s directive to procure them when he allotted some PHP299 million for the total 322 vehicles in December.

Seventy two units were earlier dispatched to the various regional recipients out of necessity for their use in transporting Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL), an appropriate term than the usual reference for prisoner, inmate or detainee, according to a jail management official.

In his remarks at the turnover rites at the camp grandstand, BJMP Chief Jail Director Deogracias C.

Tapayan said the President’s budgetary allocation enabled the bureau to acquire in just one procurement, more than the total number of vehicles purchased for the past two decades.

“This is a testament of the President’s sincere desire to address the needs of the people in the most expeditious and efficient way possible,” Tapayan said, citing “the President (does) not just do the talk, but (does) walk the talk.”

He thanked the President for the approval of the BJMP’s budget of around PHP3.4 billion for the construction of 107 jail buildings in 17 regions nationwide to address the perennial problem of jail overcrowding.

He noted that it is during the Duterte Administration that the BJMP uniformed personnel’s pay doubled, which “used to be a remote possibility, but has now become a much celebrated actuality”.

“Mr. President, as father of this Bureau, I stand before you – the father of this entire nation – to express our sincerest appreciation to all that you have done for the welfare of our people,” Tapayan said.

He also committed the Bureau’s wholehearted support to the President’s fight against drugs, corruption and violent extremism as 332 BJMP jails or some 80 percent of all jails nationwide have already been certified by PDEA and PNP as drug-free.

Tapayan also assured the Chief Executive the potentials of the Bureau with the new developments taking place and that “change has come” with these vehicles.

“With your (the President’s) help, we can move people, more importantly transport development, we could change lives, we could build a safer nation,” he stressed.

BJMP officials said the support from the national government helps address not only the congestion in the country’s jails but also eases mobility of BJMP personnel and the PDLs in district, city and municipal detention facilities.

According to the officials, the Bureau has been beset with the challenge of transporting the PDLs during court hearings as they encounter difficulties especially on jails located in islands and situated in far-flung areas just to bring PDLs to attend court hearings.

“Not all jails have their own vehicles and the BJMP concerns then need at least 1,232 transport vehicles yet we only have existing 357 units or a variance of around 875,” they said.

Under the recent procurement, each jail is now assured of transport vehicle for court hearings.

Of the newly acquired 250 BJMP transport vehicles which they used to call as “prisoners vans”, the Calabarzon Region (Region 4-A) gets 36 units, the highest among regional recipients which could address the region’s concerns for having the highest number of congested jails in the country, disclosed a BJMP official in an interview.

Other regional recipients with the number of vehicles include: Region 1 – 12 vehicles; Region 2 – nine; Region 3 – 27; MIMAROPA – eight; Region 5 -13; Region 6 – 21; Region 7 – 15; Region 8 – 12; Region 9 – 14; Region 10 – 16; Region 11 – seven; Region 12 – eight; Region 13 – 10; ARMM – 5; CAR – 10; NCR – 26; and National Headquarters – 1.

It was during Duterte’s visit to the BJMP facilities inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City in October last year when the President took time to talk to jail personnel and conducted site inspections of the facilities.

The visit, according to BJMP officials, paved the way for the grant of additional vehicles.