Jails to disclose expenditures, donations starting July

MANILA, Philippines – Starting July 1, all jails nationwide will be required to post their expenditures and donations in their bulletin boards.

Interior and Local Government secretary Jesse Robredo said that he will be issuing a directive to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to direct all city, district and municipal jails to post on their bulletin boards the expenses they have incurred, as well as the donations  they have received so that the public can freely examine them.

This is part of the department’s transparency efforts of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Under its Full Disclosure Policy issued in 2010, local government units (LGUs) are obliged to make public their financial documents such as budget, procurement bidding, among others.

Robredo claims that more than 90% of LGUs have already complied with the policy, and now it’s the turn of the jails to divulge their expenditures and donations.

The directive would also require jails to post the total jail population, resources, funds and how donations given by private individuals and groups are being utilized.

“Most of our inmates have spent a big part of their lives in jails, and we want to make sure that they benefit directly from every single centavo that is being allotted or donated to local jails,” he said.

Presently, BJMP has 69,372 inmates nationwide with a budget of P50 daily per inmate. – Rappler.com