Cong Corrales WORKING in a thankless job can be frustrating. I should know. I’m in it. I have been in a profession that has been the favorite whipping boy of presidents of the Republic’s contemporary history. But this column is not about me or my work. It’s about other thankless jobs. Yes, it pays but still, thankless. The personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, particularly those assigned in North Cotabato, have been in the limelight lately. The bloody early morning attack in its provincial jail and the consequent massive jailbreak on Wednesday made sure of that. At least 160 inmates were able to escape when armed men stormed the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan City. One of its jailers was killed in the attack. Now, everyone is criticizing BJMP. I even saw a comment of a journo-friend in one of the threads in Facebook that jailers do not know how to run and pursue the jailbirds--thanks to the police deployed, he said. Another journo-friend also demanded on the same thread that “heads should roll.” Lucky for him, his principal did file for the relief of the provincial jail warden. Acting provincial governor Shirley Macasarte-Villanueva sent a letter asking Interior and Local Governments Secretary Ismael Sueño to relieve jail Supt. Peter John Bongngat Jr.. “Upon initial observations and reports about the incident, there has been indication of lapses of and negligence that can possible be attributable to him (Bongngat),” Macasarte’s letter reads in part. Before I go on, however, a disclaimer of sorts first. I am sensitive to this subject because one of my brothers is in fact a jailer. What indication of lapses of and negligence is the good governor talking about? Did I fail to mention they were attacked? Also, the jail facility we are talking about is not even designed as a prison but a school. Now, why would these factors be understood as negligence on the part of the prison warden? Was he the one who designed the provincial prison? Did he invite the attackers to come to his prison at a time when the police deployed were already called back to their mother units? “In order to provide an objective atmosphere in our intention to look deeply into the surrounding circumstances of the said incident, I am respectfully requesting that JSupt. Peter Bongngat Jr. temporarily vacate his position and an officer-in-charge be designated for (sic) the meantime,” the acting governor adds in her letter. Now who could be more objective in sorting this mess out than the warden himself? Newsflash, governor, these people are professionals. Unlike you, they graduated in the Public Safety College, specifically on dealing with inmates and have studied the psychology of penology. Unlike you, they were not voted in to do their job. They attended classes for it. It is politicians like you who meddle on things outside your ken which makes the atmosphere in the provincial jail subjective. Ayaw na palapad sa papel and let the professionals do their job, Madam. Pfft.