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Saturday, June 24, 2006
Entire BBRC needs rewiring, says jail official
Accidents like fires and electrocutions are waiting to happen in the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) because of its substandard electrical system.
Thus concluded the report of a licensed engineer that Cebu City Hall commissioned to look into the electrical connections, after the electrocution of five inmates last Tuesday morning.
The warden, Supt. Efren Nemeño, said the jail has no budget for a complete rewiring.
But as a temporary solution, they have started insulating the exposed wires within the facility.
Crammed
A six-person team from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 7 inspected the BBRC yesterday and interviewed inmates who saw the electrocution of five inmates in a crammed holding cell.
The team also received a copy of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7’s investigation report. The Cebu City jail has turned over to the BJMP the investigation of the episode.
According to Chief Insp. Niel Avesado, they found that one of the inmates in the holding cell was moving too much and his movements caused the thin rubber covering of the wires to split, exposing the wires to the iron bars.
Warnings
Avesado, chief of the BJMP 7’s investigation section, also recommended the complete rewiring of the jail. He recommended that the BJMP 7 come up with a contingency plan for such incidents.
Avesado told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that the BJMP 7 made efforts to rewire the entire BBRC, but this was last year yet.
He pointed out that a circuit breaker was installed in 2005.
The warden is hoping that the Cebu City Government will shoulder the expenses, after Mayor Tomas Osmeña agreed to pay for it.
However, a resolution allocating funds for the rewiring has yet to be filed before the City Council.
Like the BJMP’s Avesado, engineer Christopher S. Capul of Dakay Construction and Development Corp. recommended the “total rehabilitation of the electrical system (in BBRC) to prevent faulty wiring that may cause safety and fire hazards.”
The suggestion was contained in a one-page report he sent to Vice Mayor Michael Rama. The report was presented in yesterday’s Police Coordinating and Advisory Council meeting.
Overloading
In his inspection of BBRC, Capul noted that duplex flat cords were used as feeder and branch circuit lines, when they are only for extension cords of small appliances.
The electrocuted inmates used duplex cords whose rubber insulation melted and came in contact with the bars of the cell where they were imprisoned.
Cabul also said that the BBRC’s power often tripped off, which is a sign of overloading.
“In abnormal situations like overloading, a gradual increase of temperature occurs in the wires/cables, thus causing the insulation to melts,” Capul said.
And since the wires and cables, which are tied together by GI wires, are already exposed when the insulation is burned off, electricity is conducted when they come in contact with cell bars.
“Thus creating a line to the ground loop which is very dangerous and could cause fire and accidental electrocution,” he added.
Councilor Procopio Fernandez said the report emphasized the immediate need to rewire the jail.
Kalunasan
Mayor Osmeña earlier said he will allow the City to spend for the rewiring, as it is “not a major expense.”
Fernandez also said the construction of the new BBRC building in Barangay Kalunasan has been delayed by the late arrival of materials.
But, he said, the contractor promised to keep up with the schedule, so that the building will be available on the target date of Aug. 23.
Also, Vice Mayor Michael Rama was in Manila yesterday to see the President regarding his request for Malacañang to set aside the P10 million needed to set up a water system for the jail.
He presented to the Presidential Management Staff a copy of the University of San Carlos-Water Resource Center report on possible sources of water for the jail.
While the prison isn’t rewired yet, this will create an opportunity for the team the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter formed to investigate what happened.
According to lawyer Shielamar Saliganan, it will be important for them to revisit an undisturbed crime scene during their ocular inspection next week.
It will help them determine whether the electrocution was intentional or accidental.
The IBP was expected to visit the prison yesterday but put it off until next week, when lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, their team leader, arrives from Pagadian City.
Team member Paul Oaminal, who visited the city jail yesterday with the CHR, told ABS-CBN Cebu that the IBP will also determine whether or not the inmates messed with the wires themselves.(MEA/RHM/JGA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 24, 2006 issue)
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