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Wednesday, July 09, 2003
PB dad urges more jails for inmates
By Stephen Capillas
AN OPPOSITION Provincial Board (PB) member called for the filing of a resolution urging Congress to allot a budget or funds for the construction of regional jails in Misamis Oriental and the rest of the country.
During Monday's session, PB member Oscar Musni said the resolution is in keeping with President Arroyo's order for the construction of more prisons for drug offenders.
The PB member also cited the recent jailbreak that occured at the Misamis Oriental Provincial Jail (MOPJ) in which a few inmates are reportedly still at large.
Meanwhile Arroyo's order was issued amid a high-profile anti-narcotics campaign in the country that has snared thousands of suspects.
"Rehabilitation is a vital component of the comprehensive anti-drug campaign," Arroyo said in a statement.
"This will start with an immediate inventory and expansion of the country's jails and drug rehabilitation centers to accommodate the growing number of drug users the government has apprehended," she added.
Police announced late last month that nearly 16,000 people, including a number of alleged Chinese and Japanese drug dealers, have been arrested over the past year for alleged drug crimes.
Last month, Arroyo announced a heightened anti-drug drive that she said was inspired by the crackdown launched by Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Police said at least 70 percent of all crimes committed in the country are drug-related. They said drug users now number up to two million among a national population of 80 million.
But Musni said while there is an urgent need to build more prisons owing to the sub-human conditions existing within the current jails in operation he said more should be done.
"Better conditions should be realized for the inmates. Though the prisons are intended to inflict punishment on them, they are also intended to rehabilitate and reform the prisoners so they can easily return and assimiliate anew in society once they are freed," Musni told colleagues.
The PB then passed the resolution, which would be addressed before Congress, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). With an AFP report |
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