WHEREAS, the present correctional system is highly fragmented in view of the fact that penal and prison farms are under the supervision and control of the Bureau of Corrections of the Department of Justice; provincial jails, under the provincial governments; district, city and municipal jail, under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology of the Department of Interior and Local Government; and regional youth rehabilitation centers are under the Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare of the Department of Social Welfare and Development;

WHEREAS, this fragmented set-up is aggravated by the non-institutional correctional programs handled by the Board of Pardons and Parole and the Parole and Probation Administration, which are under the Department of Justice;

WHEREAS, this existing system is not conducive to efficiency, sound management and a unified development program for corrections;

WHEREAS, in line with the vision of Philippines 2000, there is an urgent need to integrate, unify and modernize our correctional system under a single department;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order as follows:

SECTION 1. A Review Committee on the Correctional System is hereby created composed of:

a.	Secretary of Justice	Chairman
b.	Head, NAPOLCOM Technical Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice	Co-Chairman
c.	Director, Bureau of Corrections	Member
d.	Chief, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)	Member
e.	Administrator, Parole and Probation Administration	Member
f.	Executive Director, Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP)	Member
g.	Director, Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare (BCYW)-Department of Social Welfare and Development	Member
h.	Director, Assistance and Visitorial Service, Commission on Human Rights (CHR)	Member
i.	President, League of Provincial Governors	Member
j.	One Representative each from the following Non-Government Organizations (NGOs):
	1 Episcopal Commission on Prisoner ™s Welfare/Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (ECOPRIW/CBCP)	Member
	2. Integrated Correctional Association of the Philippines (ICAP)	Member
	3. Multi-Sectoral Council on Crime Prevention (MULTICON)	Member

SEC. 2. The Committee shall perform the following functions:

a. Review and study existing correctional systems, policies and problems and come up with measures including legislative and administrative proposals to correct existing deficiencies in the correctional system. For this purpose, the Committee can call on any and all government and non-government agencies and instrumentalities and submit its recommendations to the President, thru the Office of the Executive Secretary, not later than 31 May 1996.

b. The Commission shall serve as Secretariat for the government agencies involved in corrections to monitor and follow-up the implementation of the outputs of the Strategic Planning Workshop on the Modernization of Correctional System held in Antipolo, Rizal last 13 to 15 November 1995.

c. Create a technical working group which shall include non-government agencies involved in corrections.

d. Formulate its rules and regulations.

SEC. 3. The amount of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000.00) is hereby allocated from the President ™s Contingency Fund for the operations of the Committee.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 12th day of April in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.

(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary