A human rights organization asked Congress to increase the medical allowance for persons deprived of liberty (PDL) to go along with the proposed increase in their daily food budget.
As the House of Representatives tackles the Department of Justice (DOJ) budget today, political detainee organization Kapatid irged lawmakers to scrutinize and realign the Bureau of Corrections’ (BuCor) proposed ₱10.09-billion 2026 budget.
The realignment of BuCor’s budget must go to the doubling of the PDL’s daily medical allocation from a “stagnant” ₱15 to at least ₱30, Kapatid said.
This is in line with the fourfold increase in the daily food budget from ₱25 to ₱100, the group added.
“A budget is a moral document, and it’s a moral contradiction to fund food but not medicine,” said Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said.
“BuCor is asking for billions to expand militarized control while spending only ₱15 a day on medicine, even as prison deaths rise,” she added.
In 2021 alone, the BuCor recorded 1,166 PDL deaths—the highest in 32 years.
By September 2022, over 700 more died in custody, or 3–4 every day, mostly from illness and neglect.
Despite a ₱2-billion budget increase since 2024, the BuCor continues to prioritize militarized staffing and opaque capital outlays while overcrowding remains at 160%, Kapatid complained.
At least ₱8.14 billion—81% of the total BuCor budget—goes to the NCR even as inmates are continuously transferred to remote and underfunded penal colonies, contradicting the bureau’s own “decongestion” narrative, it further revealed.
Kapatid also flagged questionable allocations: ₱1.02 billion for capital outlays, ₱2.7 billion for supplies and materials, ₱3.44 billion for maintenance and operations, including ₱88 million for travel and ₱86 million for unspecified “subscriptions” plus undisclosed confidential/intelligence funds.
In contrast, the Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Program “is grossly underfunded” at only ₱151.4 million, while “agro-industrial” projects marketed as reform seem more like revenue schemes lacking transparency and reintegration goals, it added.
“The heart of the problem is that BuCor isn’t investing in PDL welfare, healthcare, rehabilitation or legal aid,” said Lim. “Over 96% of staff are uniformed personnel, with only 292 civilian positions for 56,454 inmates—an extreme imbalance. This isn’t a correctional system but a prison machine that feeds on punishment but starves reform,” she added.
Kapatid also called out BuCor’s violations of United Nations’ Mandela Rules, particularly Rule 59 that PDLs be held near their family.
“Instead, they are being dumped in far-flung penal colonies, cutting them off from visits and humanitarian aid, and withholding even basic amenities from political prisoners like two rice cookers and one water dispenser,” said Lim.
Kapatid also backed the resolution filed by ACT Teachers partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Rep. Renee Co calling for a legislative inquiry into the BuCor’s “retaliatory ban” against Lim, describing the move as “emblematic of BuCor’s intolerance of criticism and fear of scrutiny.”
“The ban is not merely a procedural restriction but blatant punishment for speaking out against bureaucratic abuse disguised as security protocols,” said Lim, noting the display of her photo with the label “BANNED” at the Correctional Institute for Women as degrading and unlawful under the Data Privacy Act.
“Kapatid urges Congress to return the BuCor budget to the Department of Budget and Management for full review and realignment toward basic needs—food, water, healthcare, legal aid—and genuine welfare programs.”
Lim added, “Instead of cracking down on drug syndicates inside Bilibid, BuCor chose to target a senior citizen—that says everything about its priorities.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
