From left, Jail Director Allan S. Iral, Chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology receiving the key of the bus donated by the European Union through Counsellor Enrico Strampelli, Head of Cooperation of the European Delegation to the Philippines
By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Reaffirming their commitment to support justice sector reform in the Philippines, the European Union provided the much-needed support to the penitentiary system to face COVID-19
Through its European Union (EU) through the Governance in Justice (GoJust) Programme, donated a bus worth PhP 5.6 M and was turned over in the Quezon City Jail this afternoon, July 16.
The bus will be used to transport Persons Deprived of Liberty positive for COVID-19 to designated quarantine facilities to contain the spread of the virus in jails.
Apart from that, the EU also distributed (almost PhP 400,000 worth of) supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as facemasks and face shields to the Philippine National Police and the justice sector media organizations in the DOJ, such as Justice and Court Reporters’ Association (JUCRA), Justice Reporters’ Association (JUROR), the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), and the Philippine Center for Photojournalism (PCP).
Counsellor Enrico Strampelli, Head of Cooperation of the European Delegation to the Philippines who led the turnover said, “The assistance package reaffirms the European Union’s commitment to enable the justice sector to address the needs of the court and penitentiary systems, especially during this pandemic.
For his part, Jail Director Allan S. Iral, Chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said, “The BJMP would like to thanks the European Union for its committed support to our country’s justice reform initiatives, through the GoJust cooperation. The new bus the EU donated for Quezon City Jail will augment our lift capability.”
This new donation by the EU complements other assistance provided by them earlier such as PHP 50 million in relief distribution to vulnerable communities, a top-up of PHP 17 million for the EU funded program on Enhanced Biosecurity in South East Asia in order to better address pandemics, and the PHP 1.1 billion provided to strengthen the WHO’s COVID-19 response in 8 ASEAN countries.
Read related story:
https://thephilbiznews.com/eu-gives-bus-ppes-to-support-ph-justice-sector-reform/
