Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRES! IVES
Quezon City

jeenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO.S652 _

Introduced by HON. DAISY AVANCE-FUENTES

‘The enactment of Republic Act 6975 gave birth to a separate and distinct Bureau of Jail
Management & Penology (BJMP) also known as the Jail Bureau under the Department of the
Interior & Local Government from what was once the Office of the Jail Management &
Penology Service under the defunct Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police. BMP is
tasked to exercise supervision and control over all district, city and municipal jails. With the
creation of BIMP into a separate and distinct bureau, the government emphasized the importance
of and its concern for the correctional institutions as a vital pillar in our criminal justice system

While RA 6975 is a landmark enactment for the BIMP in particular and the DILG in
general, it failed to consider placing provincial and sub-provincial jails under the supervision and
control of BJMP. Said jails, therefore, continued to be supervised by provincial governments,
Good government dictates that agencies that perform similar functions be placed under one
office or organization. Dispersed supervision of entities performing similar functions generally
creates confusion and hardly provides an atmosphere for effective and ideal management. It is
also not in keeping with the government's policy of streamlining administrative machineries

This bill mainly proposes to transfer the supervision and control of provincial and sub-
provincial jails from LGUs to BJMP. This proposal offers several advantages. First, this will *
professionalize the provincial jail guards and free provincial jails from the clutches of political
influence. Second, this will give clearer direction and provide for a unified and coherent policy
in the administration and supervision of all jails. Third, it will eliminate the confusion in
identifying which agency should be held responsible for the improvement of provincial and sub-
provincial jails and in disciplining jail personnel, Fourth, provincial governments will be freed
from a task that is not allied to its normal functions and thereby devote their resources and time
to the governance of the province. Fifth, all local jails, from provincial down to municipal jails,
will be administered by only one agency: the BJMP. Sixth, the objectives of penal and
correctional institutions through jail supervision and management could be better attained since
all personnel of the BJMP have the expertise and training for the job. Lastly, provincial guar
will welcome this development as they will become national employees with the corresponding,
security of tenure

Hand in hand with the placing of provincial jails under the supervision and control of the
BIMP, Assistant Regional Directors for Jail Management & Penology, as the head of the


Regional Office of the BIMP as now designated, should be upgraded to Regional Director of the
BJMP to give substance to what they actually are. The change in the designation will not greatly
affect the set-up and management of the DILG but instead place the Regional Head of the BJMP
at par with the Regional Head of the PNP which is a similar bureau under the DILG and other

government agencies regional heads

The bill furthermore creates the office/position of Provincial Jail Administrator for every
province who will supervise and administer all local jails in the province and thus provide a vital
link in the Jail Bureau’s management of local jails nationwide.

Considering all of the foregoing, the author earnestly requests passage of this bill into
law

DAISY AVANCE-FUENTES


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 8652

Introduced by Hon. Daisy Avance-Fuentes

AN ACT.
IAL, SUB-PROVINCIAL AND DISTRICT JAILS

PLACING THE PROV!

PENOLOGY (BJMP), AMENDING SECTIONS 61, 62 AND 63 OF REPUBLIC

HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE.

OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1990” AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Republic of the
Philippines ss assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 61 of Republic Act No.6975 is hereby amended to read
as follows:

“Section 61, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS.- The Jail Bureau
shall exercise supervision and control over all PROVINCIAL, SUB-
PROVINCIAL, DISTRICT, city and municipal jails. [The provincial
jails shall be supervised and controlled by the provincial government
within its jurisdiction, whose expenses shall be subsidized by the
national government for not more than three (3) years after the
effectivity of this Act] JAILS DO NOT INCLUDE DETENTION

ENTERS AND LOCK-UP CELLS BEING MAINTAINED BY

€ ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES (AEP),

LIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE (PNP), NATIONAL

BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (NBI) AND THE BUREAU OF
IMMIGRATION AND DEPORTATION.

SECTION 2. Section 62 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows

“Sec.62. Organization, The Jail Bureau shall be headed by a
Chief who shall be assisted by {a deputy chief] OTHER OFFICERS
ENUMERATED IN SECTION 3 OF R.A. NO. 9263


OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “BUREAU OF FIRE AND
PROTECTION AND BUREAU OF JAIL MANAGEMENT AND.
PENOLOGY PROFESSIONALIZATION ACT OF 2004”.

“The Jail Bureau shall be composed of PROVINCIAL, SUB-
PROVINCIAL, DISTRICT, city and municipal jails, [each headed
by city/ municipal or jail warden]: Provided, That in the case of large
cities and municipalities, a district jail with subordinate jails headed by
a district jail warden may be established as necessary”

“The Chief of the Jail Bureau shall recommend to the Secretary
the organizational structure and staffing pattern of the Bureau as well
as the disciplinary machinery for officers and men of the Bureau n
accordance with the guidelines set forth herein and as prescribed in
Section 85 of this Act”.

SECTION 3. Section 63 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

Section 63. Establishment of PROVINCIAL, SUB-
PROVINCIAL, District, City Or Municipal Jails.- There shall be
established and maintained in every PROVINCE, district, city and
municipality a secured, clean and adequately equipped and sanitary jail
for the custody and safekeeping of PROVINCIAL, city and municipal
prisoners, any fugitive from justice, or person detained awaiting
investigation or trial and/or transfer to the national penitentiary, and /or
violent mentally ill person who endangers himself or the safety of
others, duly certified as such by the proper medical or health officer,
pending the transfer to a mental institution

“The PROVINCIAL, SUB-PROVINCIAL, DICTRICT, city
or municipal jail service shall preferably be headed by a graduate of a
four (4) year course in psychology, psychiatry, sociology, nursing,
social work, [or] criminology OR A LAW GRADUATE who shall
assist in the immediate rehabilitation of individuals or detention of
Prisoners. Great care must be exercised so that the human rights of
these prisoners are respected and protected, and their spiritual and
physical well-being are properly and promptly attend to”,

SECTION 4. Provincial Jail Administrator, Sub-Provincial Jail
Administrator. - The heads of the provincial and sub-provincial jails within the
province shall have the rank of superintendent. The provincial jail administrator shall
exercise supervisory control over the provincial, district, city and municipal jail in
their respective provinces.

SECTION 5. Authority of the Chief, Bureau of Jail Management and
Penology to Reorganize Provincial Jails.- The Chief, Bureau of Jail Management
and Penology have the authority to reorganize existing provincial jails, including its
offices and personnel; Provided, ‘That in the exercise of this power, the services of the


personnel assigned therein and holding a permanent appointment shall not be
terminated

SECTION 6. Special Oversight Committee A Special Oversight
Committee is hereby created, composed of the Secretary of the Department of the
Interior and Local Government as Chairman, the Secretary of the Department of
Budget and Management as Co-Chairman, and the Chief of the Bureau of Jail
Management and Penology, the Chairman of the Commission on Audit and the
President of League of Provinces as members, which shall plan and oversee the
expeditious implementation of the transfer and absorption into the Bureau of the
property, appropriations and installations of the provincial and sub-provincial jails,
subject to just compensation under appropriate terms and conditions

SECTION 7. Appropriations, - The existing appropriation for the operation
and maintenance of provincial jails shall, for the first of fraction therelore after
enactment into law of this Act, continue to be so appropriated for the purpose.
‘Thereafier the amount of two hundred fifty million pesos (P 250,000,000.00) for the
operation and maintenance of the provincial and sub-provincial jails by the BJMP
shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 8, Separability Clause. - Should any part, section or provision of
this Act be held invalid or unconstitutional, no other part, section or provision hereot
shall be affected thereby

SECTION 9. Repealing Clause.- All laws, orders. rules or regulations which
are inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby amended or
repealed accordingly

SECTION 10. Effectivity.- This Act shall take effect fifleen (15) days alter
its publication in at least (2) newspapers of general circulation.

APPROVED,