The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said its acting chief, retired Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr., should not be blamed for the upcoming March attrition of personnel.
In a statement, the BuCor said it is only following Republic Act 10575, also known as the BuCor Act of 2013, that requires personnel with temporary status to meet the minimum qualification standards (QS) to be retained by the agency. The law has been in effect since March 15, 2018.
“Thus, Acting Director General, General Catapang Jr., has nothing to do with the attrition because it is already in place years ago and now that the reglementary period is about to lapse on March 15, 2023, the Human Resource Action is required by the law of its implementation.” it said.
The BuCor said it issued the statement after learning that an anonymous employee affected by the attrition filed a complaint before the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
The bureau said these personnel were given “five (5) years reglementary period to comply with the minimum QS set forth by the law.”
RA 10575 provides that: “After the lapse of the period for the satisfaction of a specific requirement, incumbent personnel of the BuCor who fail to satisfy any of the requirements enumerated under this section shall be separated from the service if they are below fifty (50) years of age and have served in the government for less than twenty (20) years, or retired if they are fifty (50) years and above and have served in the government for at least twenty (20) years without prejudice in either case to the payment of benefits they may be entitled to under existing laws.”
Aside from this, the law indicated that any personnel of the BuCor with at least five years of accumulated active service will be separated from the service based if there is, among other reasons, “Failure to complete the required career courses and/or appropriate civil service eligibility for his/her position except for justifiable cause or reason.”
“The Bureau has made rigorous efforts in ventilating the concerns of its personnel. On June 2022, was the first request from the CSC to facilitate the CSC Career Service Examinations Paper and Pencil Test (CSE PPT) and was granted to only fifty (50) slots on August 2022,” the BuCor said.
“However, one of the reasons some affected personnel of the attrition on why they were not able to meet the QS at the given time was the COVID-19 pandemic that hit worldwide on 2020 which evidently paralyzed the movement of people. This made the BuCor request from the CSC another extension of three (3) more years reglementary period on Oct. 13, 2022, unfortunately, it did not prosper,” it added.
The bureau assured that it is “truly aware of the mandates of the existing RA 10575 including its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (RIRR) aiming to modernize institutions, yet never been blind and deaf to the needs of its workforce.”
