MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. appointed acting Jail Chief Ruel Silva Rivera as the 10th BJMP chief on June 26, 2023, replacing Director Allan Iral who optionally retired from the service at the age of 54 after serving the maximum tour of duty of four years as chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)on June 23, 2023.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos Jr. welcomed the appointment of Jail Director (Major General in the Military) Rivera as the full-fledged chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
Abalos assured the new Jail Bureau leadership of the DILG’s guidance and support as its new Chief takes on the mantle of the Bureau’s leadership. “We are with him every step of the way,”Abalos said.
“Now that he is the full-fledged BJMP chief, and with his experience as a career jail officer, we are confident that he will be able to fully exercise his authority in propelling the jail bureau to becoming a world-class agency and a premiere safekeeping institution for persons deprived of liberty (PDL),” he added.
Rivera is expected to lead the advancement of the BJMP transformation roadmap dubbed as J.A.I.L. Plan 2040 (Journey for Advancement, Innovation, and Long-term Development Plan 2040), to make the BJMP a world-class agency by the year 2040; the DILG’s “BuhayIngatan, Droga’yAyawan” (BIDA) Program; and the Marcos administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
Rivera will lead the Bureau’s 20,813 personnel in providing humane safekeeping and developmental opportunities to 126,606 PDLs temporarily detained in 479 jails.
The new Jail Chief is a holder of a public safety degree from the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), and a member of the “Patnubay” Class of 1995.
He is also a holder of a Master in Public Administration degree at the Batangas State University, and took some units in Philosophy on Educational Management at the University of Rizal System.
A seasoned jail officer, Rivera held various positions in the Jail Bureau, such as regional support units’ officer, regional chief directorial staff, assistant regional director, until his appointment as regional director of BJMP-MIMAROPA in 2013.
A well-rounded jail officer, Rivera also held various sensitive positions in the National Headquarters, serving as Chief Finance Service Officer, Director for Investigation and Prosecution, Director for Logistics, and Director for Comptrollership, Chief of Directorial Staff in 2017, Deputy Chief for Operations in 2018, Deputy Chief for Administration in July 2019, and acting chief BJMP on March 27, 2023.
He played a vital role in the successful implementation of the Bureau’s innovative programs and initiatives aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the BJMP’s operations and the rehabilitation of PDL.
Aside from being the new BJMP honcho, Rivera is also the current chairperson of the BJMP Provident Fund and BJMP Multipurpose Cooperative. He served as president of the BJMP Savings & Loans Association Inc. from 2017 to 2018, and became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Armed Forces & Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. from 2019-2022.
Rivera is one of the Bureau’sbackbones in achieving the agency’s good governance feats, and one of the key architects of the grand development concept J.A.I.L. Plan 2040.
