DAYS after identifying the Bureau of Corrections as among the sub-agencies wracked by corruption, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla turned to former detainee-turned professor and criminal justice reform advocate Raymund Narag for help in reforming the country’s correction system.
Jose Dominic Clavano, a lawyer assigned at the Office of the DOJ Secretary, said Remulla met with Narag and discussed measures on how to reform the correction system.
“SOJ Remulla met with Prof. Raymund Narag, a former detainee of seven years turned recognized international criminology expert. Together, they aim to introduce reform to the corrections system in the Philippines,” Clavano told reporters in a text message.
He hinted that Narag, an associate professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the School of Justice and Public Safety at Southern Illinois University, may even serve either in the DOJ or the Bureau of Corrections.
“It is uncertain in what capacity Prof. Narag will come in as but the two shared opinions and compared notes on the changes they seek to make,” Clavano added.
Two days ago, Narag also met Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez to discuss criminal justice reforms.
“It was a very fruitful meeting and I will submit key recommendations soon,” Narag said in a Facebook post of his meeting with Gesmundo and Marquez.
An advocate of restorative justice, Narag has been working to introduce reforms to the correction system ever since he was detained at the Quezon City jail in the 1990s after he and 10 other students of the University of the Philippines-Diliman were charged with murder, two counts of frustrated murder, and three counts of attempted murder in connection with a brawl between his fraternity Scintilla Juris and Sigma Rho that led to the death of Sigma Rhoan Dennis Venturina.
Narag spent six years, nine months, and four days in the confines of the Quezon city jail before he was acquitted and released in 2002.
After his release from prison, Narag continued his studies, eventually receiving his UP diploma, and went on to take his PhD in the US.
Aside from being an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, he is also a visiting professor at the UP National College of Public Administration and Government.
He also wrote “Freedom and Death Inside the Jail,” a book that details the problems of the Quezon City jail, one of the country’s most crowded prison facilities.
