They will have to do a Jesus Christ or better.

How to feed detainees three full meals a day on a budget of P40 per prisoner is a great challenge for all jail officials, the chairmen of the House appropriations committee said yesterday.

"It is probably the most exacting challenge since the day Jesus fed a multitude out of a loaf of bread and a jug of water," Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said.

He said even at a measly food budget of P40 a day per inmate, the government would spend P1 billion next year to feed nearly 70,000 prisoners.

"There's an alarming population explosion in our jailhouses," he said.

He cited a report submitted to his committee by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which shows that from 41,594 in August 2002, the number of detainees in the country's 490 jails jumped by nearly 50 percent to 59,225 in March this year. It is projected to go up to 68,130 next year.

BJMP jails are separate from those run by the Bureau of Corrections and the Philippine National Police.

To feed the estimated 68,130 detainees next year, the BJMP is asking for P995 million. That amount is a third of its proposed P2.9 billion budget for 2006.

Also included in the bureau's budget proposal is P220 million for the pay increase of 6,400 jail guards and for the hiring of 500 new guards.

Andaya said the government can build more jails to provide more space for prisoners and can increase their food subsidy, "if it has money."

But its financial problems prevent it from doing any of these, he said.

He lamented that the prison system has a total jail space of 92,292 square meters only "or a density of seven prisoners per 10 square meters."

"The prison system is yet bracing for more admissions as widespread poverty is driving more people to commit criminal acts," he said.

He said one way to decongesting jails is for the courts to speed up the resolution of cases.

"The logjam of cases in lower courts, where 778,556 suits remained pending as of the end of 2003, is one reason why our standing room-only jails are literally packed to the rafters," he added.

For Rep. Florencio Noel of the party-list group An Waray, prisoners getting P40 in daily food allowance are more fortunate than their poor brothers outside prison who sweat it out to earn that much.

He said more than 30 percent of the 85 million Filipinos are classified as poor "who live on less than $1 a day."

"Our goal should be to lessen poverty among our people," he added.

                                                                                 ~ Jess Diaz