(NI DANG SAMSON-GARCIA)

NABUKING sa Senado ang pagtatangka ni dating Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon na ilipat ang P1 bilyong pondo para sa konstruksyon at pagsasaayos ng regional prison facilities sa ilang lalawigan para sa kanyang sariling lalawigan na Mindoro.

Sa deliberasyon ng pondo para sa Department of Justice (DOJ) para sa susunod na taon, kinuwestyon ni Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon ang implementasyon ng programa para sa pagtatayo at rehabilitasyon ng regional facilities sa Palawan, Davao, Leyte, Zamboanga at Correctional Institution for Women na pinaglaanan ng P1 bilyong pondo ngayong 2019.

“Napaayos ba natin ang mga ito? The reason why I’m interested in this is because this could from the nucleus for regionalization of facilities,” saad ni Drilon.

“For example Palawan, Davao — they are presently already used as prison facilities, an improvement pursuant to the allocation that we made P1 billion could be the starting point for the regionalization of our prison system and decongest our Muntinlupa penitentiary,” paliwanag pa nito.

Sa pagdipensa naman ni Senador Sonny Angara sa budget, nilinaw nito na hindi pa nare-release ang pondo kaya’t hiniling ni Drilon ang paliwanag dito ng DOJ.

Sa puntong ito, sinabi ni Angara na sumulat si Faeldon sa Finance Committee at hiniling na i-realign ang pondo.

“The previous BuCor head, we are told, wanted to transfer the funds to Sablayan, Mindoro,” saad nito.
“But we told him that it’s not proper for the committee to do that because it’s already…a line item in the General Appropriations Act and to realign that item, you would need an amendment of the law, that was our response, your honor,” dagdag pa nito.

Dahil dito, iginiit ni Drilon sa DOJ na bawiin ang sulat ng dating Bucor chief lalo pa’t maituturing aniyang terible ang naturang aksyon.

“It’s totally uncalled for because that is the policy set by Congress and a BuCor director has no business attempting to realign these funds to his home province,” diin ni Drilon.