Solon backs Chief Justice's call to privatize jails
The government should find ways to eventually transfer to the private sector the provision and control of jail and prison facilities in order to ease severe congestion and reduce cost in a big way, a member of Congress said over the weekend.
"We have to relegate detention, correction and rehabilitation services to private entities as soon as possible. Over time, this is the only way we can maintain a cost-efficient penal system," Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago said.
Santiago's remarks came shortly after no less than Chief Justice Reynato Puno said the government would be better off conveying to private firms the administration of detention facilities to address massive overcrowding.
"If the state is financially unable (to maintain a viable system), one option would be to privatize our detention facilities which is already being done in more progressive countries," Puno said at the launch of a film documentary by The Asia Foundation on 'The State of the Philippine Penal System.'
Citing Supreme Court statistics, Puno said the Quezon City jail was the most jammed in Metro Manila with a congestion rate of 295 percent, followed by the Las Piñas City jail (259 percent) and the Manila City jail (195 percent).
Puno said Camp Karingal's Female Dormitory was 197 percent crammed and the Parañaque City jail was 132 percent packed.
Santiago, for his part, noted that the government is spending billions of pesos annually to house, feed and look after inmates and the amount is expected to increase considerably in the years ahead due to population growth.
"Surely, more efficient private entities can do a better job of housing, feeding and caring for inmates at a more economical rate," Santiago said.
He said the privatization of prisons and jails would not only mean huge cost-savings for taxpayers but also lead to enhanced services for inmates.
"In other countries, private contractors spend less because they rely more on high-technology security solutions and less on staff. They are then able to re-channel savings to improve meals and education services for inmates," said Santiago, a pro-human rights crusader who pushed for the abolition of the death penalty.
The government will be spending PhP4.5 billion next year for inmate services.
This translates to PhP40,189 per inmate annually or PhP110 per head every day based on a combined prison and jail population of 112,119, according to the Department of Budget and Management.
At present, the budget for jails and prisons is shared by the Department of the Interior and Local Government's Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Department of Justice's Bureau of Corrections (Bucor).
The BJMP runs 418 jails with 76,306 inmates.
The Bucor maintains seven prisons with 35,813 inmates.
In the United States, tens of thousands of inmates are now being housed and managed by private entities that bid competitively at the federal, state and municipal levels for the contracts to provide such services.
One of the largest among the firms is Corrections Corporation of America which owns, operates and manages 66 correctional facilities (including those for juveniles) with more than 70,000 inmates.
The other firms providing similar services for government agencies in the US are Cornell Companies Inc., The Geo Group Inc. and Avalon Correctional Services Inc., to name a few. (PNA)