INVENTORY OF JAIL PERSONNEL, FIREARMS ORDERED

        Bureau of Jail Management and Penology chief, Director Armando M. Llamasares directed all regional directors to submit inventory of personnel assigned in their respective areas of responsibility to determine which regions need additional personnel or which areas are excessively manned.  He also ordered an inventory of firearms, handcuffs and prisoners vans.

        Llamasares issued the directive to prevent occurrence in the BJMP of reported incidents in some uniformed service agencies where several of their personnel left the country to work abroad without tendering their resignation letters and surrendering their issued service firearms and handcuffs.

        The “absent” personnel may find gainful employment overseas and still receive their salaries (here) perhaps, in cahoots with their agency’s finance officers, since they are not yet resigned.  This we do not want to happen in the BJMP, Llamasares said.

        Llamasares said, the BJMP has yet to improve logistically in terms of provision of jail facilities, procurement of firearms, handcuffs, and prisoners vans as well as in the construction of new jail buildings, perimeter fences and female dormitories.  BJMP also needs to hire additional jail officers since it is presently severely undermanned.

        He said more prisoners vans are needed to transport inmates for court hearings, or to hospitals for medical treatment and other cases permitted by court.  This, Llamasares said underscores the dire necessity to improve left capability with 958 prisoners vans and some 21,415 handcuffs.

        He noted that an estimated 64 percent of the 7,584 jail officers are without issued firearms. Presently the bureau has a shortage of 3,865 short firearms and 2,706 long firearms. Llamasares stressed the need for at least 6,571  more firearms to increase the agency’s firepower capability.  

        If we have the exact number of our active personnel, firearms, handcuffs and prisoners vans, we can have a clear picture of what we still need and can thus initiate appropriate measures, Llamasares to his men.