Photo courtesy of Raffy Tulfo/Facebook
Senator Raffy Tulfo pressed the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to act on repeated complaints reaching his office regarding alleged lapses and questionable practices inside detention facilities under its supervision, including reports that some persons deprived of liberty were engaging in unauthorized business activities while in custody.
During a Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing on April 15, Tulfo cited a complaint aired through his program involving a former detainee from Lapu-Lapu City Jail who claimed he was allowed to run an internal trade involving phone cards while detained.
“Pumasok siya as an ordinary guy and he came out of prison as a millionaire. Bakit pinapayagan niyo ang isang PDL na magnegosyo sa loob ng bilangguan ng wantusawa at wala kayong ginagawang regulation?” Tulfo asked.
The former inmate alleged he earned large sums in coupon value from selling phone credits to fellow detainees and said confusion arose when jail officials reportedly refused to convert these earnings into cash after his release, prompting him to seek assistance.
Tulfo warned that such arrangements could weaken monitoring of inmate communications and potentially open channels for illegal transactions, noting that current rules limit detainees to a small set of approved contacts that must be screened by jail authorities.
BJMP officials acknowledged gaps in the reported incident and reiterated that detainees are prohibited from conducting personal business inside jail facilities, although they explained that managed commissary operations are allowed as long as they are controlled by jail administration and proceeds are directed to livelihood programs.
Officials also clarified that detainees are permitted to hold only limited weekly funds and that a system is in place to reduce cash handling, although physical money remains widely used in practice, prompting Tulfo to push for a fully digital payment system to improve transparency and tracking, a proposal which jail officials accepted.
The senator further raised concerns about surveillance gaps in detention centers, pointing out the need for expanded closed-circuit television coverage in high-traffic areas, while jail officials cited limited equipment and budget constraints affecting nationwide monitoring capacity, with Tulfo later expressing support for increased funding to address the shortage.
In the same hearing, Tulfo also flagged alleged irregularities within the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), citing reports that some personnel may be involved in questionable practices during fire safety inspections, including steering businesses toward specific fire extinguisher suppliers in coordination with private manufacturers, while reforms were outlined by agency officials such as wider use of body cameras, personnel reshuffling, and retraining programs aimed at improving ethics and reducing conflicts of interest.