Isabela province commended on pandemic performance
BY PETER J. G. TABINGO
A Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) has lauded the performance of the provincial government of Isabela on its execution of programs and activities to protect residents and control the spread of COVID-19, including attaining herd immunity and provision of assistance to public health workers and individuals in crises.
The 82-page CPA Report released last February 14 covered the pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 and was conducted from April to December 2023.
Participating in the audit were 13 state auditors, two lawyers, and five members of civil society organizations including two from the Philippine League of Government and Private Midwives, two from the Philippine Electric Cooperative Association and Safety Officers, and one from the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals.
A copy of the report was submitted to the office of Gov. Rodolfo Albano III on February 8.
The team credited the local government for hitting a 95 percent vaccination coverage with at least one dose (1,194,349 individuals) and 89.9 percent fully vaccinated (1,129,698 individuals) against the national average of 65 percent vaccinated.
Isabela was among the first provinces to achieve herd immunity as of 2021, the auditors noted.
“The province of Isabela has effectively executed its vaccination strategies and activities and has substantially observed the operational guidelines under the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 Vaccines particularly on the prioritization and campaign for its COVID-19 Vaccination Program,” the CPA team said.
Conducting CPA audits is a strategy used by the Commission on Audit to provide first-hand training to select groups and individuals on conducting audits and encourage citizen participation to promote transparency.
“The Audit Team commends the effective vaccination program of the Province. Majority of the vaccinated respondents said they were informed of the vaccination program through the barangay officials,” auditors said.
With the help of health professionals, the provincial government identified four spots as ideal isolation facilities including two resorts and two hotels which accommodated 639 returning overseas Filipinos, 70 locally stranded individuals, 273 frontliners, and 15 guests or a total of 997.
While there were a few complaints on restroom sharing, delayed meals, weak internet, and inadequate security, the CPA team reported that majority of the respondents appreciated the intervention of the local government to provide safe shelter and supplies while they were in isolation.
Although there were delays in distribution, allowances, benefits and assistance to public and private health workers, Isabela complied with all procedures in the grant of special risk allowance and One COVID-19 Allowances (OCAs) to eligible public health workers (PHWs).
“Most of the PHWs informed our team that they were able to save their salaries and even some amounts of the SRA and OCA due to the numerous additional assistance extended to them,” the report said.
1,254 Bilibid inmates transferred since Jan
BY ASHZEL HACHERO
THE Bureau of Correction (BuCor) yesterday said 1,254 persons deprived of liberty (PDL)s sentenced to the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City have been transferred to other prison and penal farms in the country since January this year.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said 459 inmates were the latest batch to be transferred to the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, where they arrived on Saturday night.
The BuCor has been transferring inmates from the NBP since 2022 to decongest the national penitentiary, which is set to be shut down by 2028.
“This brings to 1,254 the number of persons deprived of liberty transferred to other operating prison and penal farm of BuCor since January of this year,” Catapang said in a brief statement.
“All of the persons deprived of liberty arrived safely at IPPF, except for one who was diagnosed with hypokalemia,” he said, adding the inmate was immediately attended by medical personnel and is in good condition now.
Hypokalemia is when the amount of potassium in one’s blood is too low.
BuCor data showed that from June 2022 to January 31 this year, it has transferred 3,259 inmates from the NBP and the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City to the Leyte Regional Prison, Davao Prison and Penal Farm, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm and Iwahig.
The BuCor chief said the transfer of inmates is a “stop gap” measure in alleviating overcrowding in the NBP while the agency is waiting for funding for the construction of regional correction facilities as part of its medium and long-term development and modernization plans.
He added that the transfer of the inmates to IPPF will also support the manpower needs of Iwahig for its Reformation Initiative for Sustainable Environment (RISE) for Food Security project.
For the past five years, the average number of inmate releases stood at 5,327 per annum, while the average number of those being admitted to the NBP and other prison facilities is at 7,823 yearly, or a rate of admission which the BuCor said was significantly higher than the number of releases.
“Under these conditions, the population of persons deprived of liberty will continue to grow at steady rates making regionalization the most potent solution,” Catapang said.
The BuCor has already released 11,347 inmates from June 2022 to January 2024 under its “Bilis Laya” Program.
Catapang said more qualified inmates will be released upon evaluation of their Good Conduct Time Allowance.
From January 1 to 30, 2024, 632 inmates managed to regain their freedom, which were 11.4 percent higher than the 20-month average releases of 567 inmates.
The released inmates either completed their maximum sentence, through GCTA, or were pardoned or paroled.
Catapang said his office has forwarded the records of 36,044 inmates to the Board of Pardons and Parole for evaluation, deliberation, and resolution.
In December last year, officials from the Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Supreme Court came together to address the congestion in the country’s prison and penal facilities through a National Jail Decongestion Summit. The NBP and the six other operating prison and penal farms of BuCor hold over 50,000 inmates, although their total capacity is only around 12,000, or an average congestion rate of 310 percent.
