Jail chief limits conjugal visits

CONJUGAL visit by a girlfriend or common-law partner at the Baguio City Jail will be a stricter affair now that a new jail warden has assumed office.

According to new Baguio City Jail Warden Severino Khita, his office has employed new measures in screening conjugal visits.

According to Khita, conjugal visits at the BCJ are now limited to married couples. He said the jail management now requires a photocopy of a couple's marriage contract before a visitor is allowed such privilege.

Khita said he sometimes interviews visitors to verify whether they are indeed the spouse of the prisoner they want to visit.

"Anyone can show a marriage contract but we have to establish if the spouse as written in the document is the same person who visits," Khita said.

With the new policy, additional security will be implemented to preserve the families of prisoners.

Compared to the regular visiting hours of 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., conjugal visits are allowed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

Conjugal rights, among others, are one of the rights granted to inmates.

A conjugal visit is an extended visit during which an inmate is allowed to spend several hours a day with their legal spouse.

Conjugal visits are permitted to preserve family bonds and to help psychologically increase an inmate's motivation to comply with regulations in jail. It is part of preparing the inmate for his or her life once he/she is released from detention. (Rimaliza Opiña)