DOJ: Prisoners’ food budget still at P70 in 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice’s daily budget for prisoners’ food and medical needs will remain at P70 and P15, respectively, DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday.

During the budget hearing of the House of Representatives appropriations committee, Remulla said the DOJ proposed an increase in the daily “subsistence allowance” of prisoners under the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), but this proposal was shot down by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The subsistence allowance of each prisoner was proposed to be P100 for food and P30 for medical expenses from the current P70 and P15, respectively, he said.

Assistant Budget Secretary Mary Anne dela Vega said the current subsistence allowance for BuCor’s prisoners is the same as that of inmates in jails run by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which is under the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

She said increasing the subsistence allowance for prisoners would affect the amount allocated for the BJMP’s detainees.

“So the decision then during the budget deliberation is to maintain that level,” Dela Vega said.

No new prisons, body cams

The DBM also rejected the DOJ’s request for P23 billion to construct new prison facilities, according to Remulla.

He said the congestion rate in the country’s prisons is now at 383 percent.

The DBM proposed an overall budget of P34.486 billion for the DOJ out of the P5.768-trillion national budget next year.

Under the General Appropriations Act, the DOJ received a budget of P28.607 billion in 2023.

Remulla also said the BuCor did not get funding for body-worn cameras.

“No budget was included although we made a request. Actually, the (budget) request of BuCor is P32 billion, but what was given is only P7 billion,” he said when questioned by 1-Rider party-list Rep. Bonifacio Bosita.

The lawmaker urged the House panel to allocate funds for the devices, saying the budget can be sourced from line items that are “not that important,” not necessarily from the DOJ allocation.

The purchase of body-worn cameras for P320.4 million is among the priority projects of the BuCor, according to bureau chief Gregorio Catapang Jr.

He said the BuCor has asked for an additional budget of P1.5 billion for “badly needed” priority projects following the escape of an inmate from the New Bilibid Prison, but these remain “unfunded” in the proposed 2024 national budget.

These projects include the acquisition of K9 dogs for P10 million, scanner machines for P812 million and closed-circuit television surveillance system upgrade for P154.6 million as well as the construction of a mess hall for inmates for P169.1 million. – Daphne Galvez