Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Mayor to let prisoners walk during transfer to Kalunasan
A JAIL guard’s job is important, but for Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, “they’re not of value to society.”
He was referring to those in the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) in particular, which he considers “equally bad elements.”
“They are the same guards who sell drugs in jail, who extort money from the prisoners,” said Osmeña, who vowed that the BJMP will not get any support from him.
He made his comments against the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) yesterday when asked on the need to transfer over 2,400 BBRC male inmates from the current facility at the Asiatown IT Park to the Barangay Kalunasan jail compound.
The contractor is working round the clock to finish a two-story building for the male inmates after President Arroyo last August requested for their transfer before the Asean summit.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama said the transfer is tentatively set on Nov. 30. Though a water pump and piping system is not yet in place, he said the City will just send tankers to bring water to the Kalunasan jail.
But Osmeña will not even allow the use of the City’s Kaohsiung buses in transferring the inmates.
“Let them transfer to Kalunasan, but it doesn’t have my support....No Kaohsiung (buses), they walk,” he said.
The police, however, will be there to assist “for the security of the public.”
He also warned that the moment the male inmates are transferred to Kalunasan, BJMP personnel will have to live in outlying properties “because they are not from here.”
“I won’t let them squat in Kalunasan, I’ll have them thrown out. I’ll ask the barangay captain to monitor. There is going to be a showdown and I’m sure the residents will support me,” he said.
Will fight
He said he is answerable only to the people who voted for him and not anyone else, not even Arroyo.
“I will fight the president if I have to. My priority is to protect the people there,” he said.
The mayor added that if the inmates are transferred to Kalunasan, he could not assure the residents that they are safe from them and the guards.
The mayor had long criticized BJMP, saying the illegal drug trade at the BBRC still persists and special treatment on influential inmates is reportedly rampant.
“You see, there is no concerted, deliberate, or trying hard effort to clean their ranks,” he said.
Last February, two women jail guards were arrested in an entrapment for allegedly asking an equivalent amount as “tax” for every item and goods brought in by visitors.
In an initial interview, one of the guards said they were following their official’s instruction and just continued the practice of past wardens. (RHM)
