The revelation of Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla that food budget in jails and prisons is subject to corrupt practices deserves more attention. As a long time observer of jail and prison conditions and advocate for the PDLs, I concur that food management is a critical component in the reform of jails and prisons towards a human rights based approach to correctional management.
Indeed, food situation is dire. Many Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) complain of food quality and quantity. A number of PDLs become malnourished and many become emaciated and succumb to illness and eventually death. As a coping mechanism, PDLs asks their loved ones to bring food, water, and medicines to supplement the limited food they receive. They also create a "kasalo" or "karancho" system where PDLs with visitors share their food with PDLs without visitors. Still, these mechanisms are not enough.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) differ in their approaches on food management. The BuCor utilizes a third party (private concessionaire) through a bidding process. The winning bidder prepares the food of the PDLs and then recuperates the expenses from the government. The BJMP, on the other hand, does not use private concessionaires. Instead, the Jail Warden manages the food budget, where the jail mess officers prepare the food and the warden recuperates the expenses from the regional offices.
Both approaches have pros and cons. In the BuCor, if the winning bidders provide the food as stipulated in the bid contract, then using the economies of scale, the food quality and quantity will be acceptable. I have observed some prison facilities, in certain points in time, that have provided standard food conditions. On the other, as was mentioned by the Secretary and the BuCor Director General, the bidding process is a key area of corruption, such that bidders expend extra expenses to corner a bid, which they eventually recover by providing substandard food conditions.
In the BJMP, since Wardens are given the discretion on how to spend the food budget, the food of the PDLs become subject to the "styles" of the wardens: the karatista, the boksingero and the golfer. The karatista warden manages the food properly and tries to "save" by choosing providers that offer raw materials like rice, meat and vegetables at the lowest prices. The money that is "saved" will be used to augment the operational funds of the jail. In many cases, the savings can also be used to feed breakfast, lunch, and dinner of the jail officers who are on duty. A karatista warden, with an open hand, shares the savings and can implement many rehabilitation programs in the facility. The boksingero (close fists) and worst, the golfer (hides with both hands and even tighs) shave the savings from the food budget, and do not share as much. These are the type of wardens both hated by the PDLs and jail officers- the food quality and quantity are substandard.
Thus, with the exception of the Karatista wardens, the food condition in BJMP facilities that are run by Boksingeros and Golfers are worse off than food offered in BuCor prisons.
Again, as mentioned by Secretary Remulla, this is nothing new. This has now become a common knowledge. I believe that the BJMP and BuCor leadership are trying to overcome these ingrained and difficult to overcome practices. The BJMP and the BuCor have instituted many policies. It is in the implementation of this policies, in the face of corrupt culture, that the shortfall happens.
Proposed solutions:
There should be a body that regularly conducts visitations on jails and prisons (and even in the police detention centers) and checks the food conditions of the PDLs. There should also be a food standard, based on nutritional quality, that will be followed by the jail and prison facilities. PDLs should be asked regularly on the situation of the food and their feedback should be considered. The Commission on Human Rights should develop a protocol on this.
Second, the Commission on Audit should be able to implement a more strict mechanism to verify the authenticity of receipts that are used for disbursement of expenses. Corrupt practices, as mentioned by the Secretary, where fake receipts are "doctored" to claim expenses, can easily happen when there are no strict verification and monitoring mechanisms.
Specific to the BuCor: there should be more transparency in the bidding process to avoid opportunities for corruption. The Director General had been dutifully monitoring this.
Specific to the BJMP: there should be a merit based criteria for appointing wardens: appoint only those with ethical and moral character so they will not utilize the food budget for personal aggrandizement. I believe the Chief BJMP had been instituting mechanisms toward this end.
I fully support the need to increase the food budget from Php 70 to PhP100 per day per PDL. With the high prices of food commodities, it is truly a very limited budget. But even if the budget is increased to PhP 100, it is not a guarantee that food conditions for the PDLs will be improved. Without the reforms to overcome corruption, increasing the food budget will simply enrich the corrupt officers in the BJMP and the BuCor.
See the Philippine Star article on this significant findings of the DOJ here.
photo: Philippine Star/Jesse Bustos
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