The proposal to let the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) manage the various provincial jails in the country receives some attention in Congress.
This comes as plans to integrate management of provincial and sub-provincial jails with the BJMP surface in a recent House Justice Committee meeting.
The plan to integrate the provincial and sub-provincial jails with the BJMP system surfaced during a committee hearing of the House Committee of Justice on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2020, a report from the office of Rep. Edgar Chatto says.
BJMP officer-in-charge Allan Iral thanked Chatto for explaining the concerns of the Iral’s agency in terms of funding, assets, and personnel.
Chatto shared with the committee that as former governor, jail management concerns fell on his lap as Bohol is among the 10 Local Government Units (LGU) which entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) allowing the BJMP to manage the province’s provincial jails. The MOA was entered into by the administration previous to his, which is prior to 2010.
Under the proposed integration of jails under the BJMP, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan will authorize the governor to sign agreements needed, including possible just compensation for assets, funding for the management of personnel, and other needed budgetary allocations.
He said enacting the integration into law is a positive move as it will streamline and standardize quality of jail management, and address issues on properties, budget, and personnel.
However, Chatto expressed his concerns on defining operational mechanism and ensuring efficient transition of management from the province to the BJMP.
The first district solon pointed out that this can be addressed through further consultations with governors, vice governors and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to harmonize their views vis-à-vis the views of the BJMP, as well as related national government agencies.
Moreover, the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) president Gov. Presbitero Velasco who was also in the online meeting of the Justice Committee in the House of Representatives shared the insights of Chatto as he reported that various governors in the country have different opinions in the move to transfer supervision of provincial jails to the BJMP.
The justice committee is chaired by Leyte Cong. Vicente Veloso. The committee tackled the different house bills transferring provincial and sub-provincial jail management under the aegis of the BJMP. The committee members agreed on the creation of a technical working group (TWG) to consolidate the provisions of the house bills filed in Congress.
The integration of national and local jails is seen as a way to improve the handling and management of correctional/penal institutions, which is an integral part of the justice system, Veloso said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) representatives who were in the said meeting, expressed support for the measure regarding the integration of provincial and sub-provincial jails under the BJMP.