Press Release
May 27, 2011
Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Friday expressed full support for Justice Secretary Leila De Lima’s proposal to “overhaul the systems in place” at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the New Bilibid Prison amid the controversy caused by former Batangas Governor Jose Antonio Leviste, who had managed to slip in and out of his prison cell.
Pangilinan said, “I support the proposal of DOJ Secretary de Lima for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the BuCor organization. Clearly there is something terribly wrong with the existing set up and the reassignment or removal of a few personnel will not solve the problem.”
According to Pangilinan, who was formerly a chair of the Senate Committee on Justice, “This is not the time to employ band-aid methods when what is clearly called for is sweeping ‘top-to-bottom’ reforms. No stone should be left unturned until a no-nonsense cleansing of the penal system is effected.”