Whistleblower asks governor to review Bohol jail deal

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines – Whistleblower Jail Inspector Angelina Lumba-Bautista of Valenzuela City called on Governor Edgar Chatto to review the memorandum of agreement entered into by his predecessor with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology  for the operation of the Bohol District Jail.

Bautista said she had already contacted Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II about the alleged anomaly on the allocations for the subsistence allowance of inmates involving high-ranking BJMP officials. She said she had been waiting for a response from the provincial officials since last year yet.

The governors who entered into memoranda of agreement with the BJMP had no idea that the BJMP has regular budget for the subsistence allowance for the inmates, said Bautista,and that some governors had expressed disappointment that BJMP made them appear stupid.

All the regional directors, budget wardens and those at the national headquarters of the BJMP chief, comptroller account and budget department must have kept it secret when the MOAs were drafted and it only shocked the governor to learn of the hidden motive, she said.

Bautista said she had been waiting for the governor of Bohol to react on the controversy and also wanted to know if the provincial administration will be checking the present set up at the Bohol District Jail.

Bautista reiterated that it is certain the “double budget scheme” has also been practiced in Bohol after learning from an earlier news item that Bohol District Jail Warden Jose Rusylvi Abueva mentioned that the allocation for meal allowance of the detainees has been shouldered by the provincial government.

She said the BJMP has budget for the same purpose, but it is allegedly redirected to the pockets of top jail officials.

In the news item, Abueva was quoted to have stated that the provincial government allocates P50 a day for each of the 491 inmates of BDJ.

The whistleblower appreciated though that Bohol First District Rep. Rene Relampagos co-authored House Resolution No. 2134, filed by Bataan 2nd district Rep. Enrique Garcia Jr., calling concerned committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, to shed light on the issue.

In the resolution, Relampagos asked the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation into the alleged irregularity in the disbursements by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology  for the subsistence allowances of the inmates in various provincial jails.

HR 2134 is now at the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

Garcia earlier called “for an investigation, in aid of legislation, into the reported anomaly in the disbursements by the BJMP for subsistence allowances of inmates in various provincial jails which were already shouldered and paid for by the local government units concerned.”

Garcia cited “extensive media reports” about Bautista for surfacing “to denounce what she claimes to be the anomalous practice of certain BJMP officials who enter into separate MOA with various provincial government units, in which the latter is made to shoulder the subsistence allowances of inmates in their provincial jails while, at the same time, the said BJMP officials are collecting disbursements for the same purpose from the BJMP fund”. —/JMD (FREEMAN)