EDITORIAL - The BBRC and its problems

A new warden has been installed at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center after the facility, for the nth time, caught the attention of the public because two of its jail guards were caught collecting "taxes" from visitors. Does the changing of the guards at the BBRC mean that the questionable practices there will now stop?

We don't think so. Wardens have come and gone at the BBRC and still the jail has remained the same - controversial.

The case of the BBRC can be likened to our country. No matter who the president is, corruption is still very rampant because it is already in the system. So it does not really matter who the warden is at the jail facility, there will always be something fishy going on inside if the system itself is not changed. Didn't the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology install a new warden after a woman was found at the cell of cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr.? Wasn't there a change of the guards at BBRC when shabu was found in a container full of human waste? How about when there were inmates who bolted the facility or when a number of improvised weapons were found in the possession of inmates during an inspection?

Many faces have come and gone at the BBRC and still a controversial act is bound to reach the media, and the public, especially when someone complains or when an inspection is done.

So why then doesn't the BJMP realize that the changing of the guards at the city jail is not the answer to the problem? It is about time that the decision makers at BJMP take in the fact that a change from within, a change in the system is what the facility needs and not temporary solution of changing the warden.

This is probably why Mayor Tomas Osmeña will not allow the transfer of inmates to the Kalunasan jail. The mayor probably knows that a new building may alleviate the situation of inmates but there will still be questionable practices at the facility if a change in the system is not implemented. Come to think of it, even the changing of jail personnel will not solve the problems hounding the city jail if the system is not changed. The corrupt system that has long been in place there will just swallow the new people up and make them adapt to its ways.

We hope that the BJMP will realize sooner that, just like the familiar saying, it cannot face (and solve) the problem if the problem is its face.