PNoy orders release of DOJ panel report on Leviste caper

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the release of a Department of Justice panel's findings that looked into the unauthorized ‘vacation’ of homicide convict and former Batangas Gov. Jose Antonio Leviste from the New Bilibid Prison last month. "The President has authorized the Department of Justice to release to the public, the fact-finding panel's report on the Bureau of Corrections," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press statement Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said Aquino did not order any review of the panel’s recommendations. [See: Ochoa: No need to review DOJ panel findings on Leviste caper] Lacierda said the tasks before the DOJ and other concerned agencies are clear. "The President himself has expressed concern about congestion in our prisons and drugs. These factors combine to promote corruption and disorder and saps, in turn, discipline and justice as rules may be unclear or arbitrarily applied to inmates," he said. He said the country’s correctional system cannot function "if it is inhumane, if it is underfunded, and if its rules aren't further codified and applied in a fair and strict manner." He said the government is open to have partnership with citizens and organizations working for education and rehabilitation of the inmates. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News