Section 11. Professionalization and Upgrading of Qualification Standards in the Appointment of the BuCor Personnel. —

1. No person shall be appointed as personnel of the BuCor unless one possesses the following minimum qualifications:

   1. A citizen of the Republic of the Philippines;

   2. A person of good moral character;

   3. Must have passed the psychiatric/psychological, drug and physical test for the purpose of determining his/her physical and mental health;

   4. Must possess a baccalaureate degree from a recognized learning institution;

   5. Must possess the appropriate civil service eligibility;

   6. Must not have been dishonorably discharged or dismissed for cause from previous employment;

   7. Must not have been convicted by final judgment of an offense or crime involving moral turpitude; and

   8. Must be at least one meter and sixty-two centimeters (1.62 m.) in height for male, and one meter and fifty-seven centimeters (1.57 m.) for female: Provided, That a waiver for height and age requirement/s may be granted to applicants belonging to the cultural communities: Provided, further, That a new applicant must not be less than twenty-one (21) or more than forty (40) years of age. Except for this particular provision, the above-enumerated qualifications shall be continuing in character and an absence of any one of them at any given time shall be ground for separation or retirement from the service: Provided, furthermore, That those who are already in the service upon the effectivity of this Act shall be given five (5) years from the date of such effectivity to obtain the minimum educational qualification and eligibility with subsidiary assistance as provided for in this Act.

2. After the lapse of the period for the satisfaction of a specific requirement, incumbent personnel of the BuCor who fail to satisfy any of the requirements enumerated under this section shall be separated from the service if they are below fifty (50) years of age and have served in the government for less than twenty (20) years, or retired if they are fifty (50) years and above and have served in the government for at least twenty (20) years without prejudice in either case to the payment of benefits they may be entitled to under existing laws.

3. For sustained professionalism in the service, the BuCor is directed to conduct study for the feasible establishment of the Philippine Corrections Academy, patterned after the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) of the Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP) for its commissioned officers.

4. The BuCor shall continue training its personnel through its Personnel Training School, which shall be renamed as Corrections Training School/Institute patterned after the BJMP's Jail National Training Institute (JNTI), the Bureau of Fire's Fire National Training Institute (FNTI) and the PNP's National Training Institute (PNTI).