Thursday, November 23, 2006 Editorials: Ego and the inmates’ transfer
WHAT is Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña trying to achieve with his continuing attempt to block the effort of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to transfer inmates of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) to Kalunasan?
After that childish refusal to lend the city’s Kaohsiung buses—complete with taunts like letting the inmates walk instead—for the transfer, the mayor is now saying he will not allow the BJMP to pump water to be used for the new facility.
Which had BJMP officials hinting they may finally succumb to the bullying ways, meaning, they may have to defer the transfer.
Long overdue
What makes this development galling is that not only is the transfer of the inmates to a bigger and livable facility long overdue, President Arroyo herself ordered it as part of the preparations for the Asean summit next month.
But forget the need to present the summit delegates with a more presentable view of the areas near the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug; rather, just consider the inhuman condition that BBRC inmates are continuing to endure inside the jail.
And all the suffering for what?
BJMP purge
Admittedly, there is reason for the mayor to rave and rant against BJMP officials considering that not many of them are saints, or at least there is this widespread view that corruption is rampant among personnel of the bureau.
One can also agree with his contention that even with the transfer to the new jail, the ills that hounded BBRC will only be transplanted there considering the failure to fully cleanse the ranks of the jail guards.
But a BJMP purge, if it is possible, will take time and needs the action of Malacañang; or it is not something that can be easily gifted to the mayor.
Ego thing
In the short term, the bigger problem is the overcrowding of inmates in BBRC and the security risk it is posing not only to the residents in the vicinity of the jail but also to the people of the city.
Apparently, Osmeña knows that, only that his ego is getting in the way of the full resolution of the jail problem.
Which is probably why Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who has worked long and hard for the completion of the new facility in Kalunasan to pave the way for the inmates’ transfer, has slowed down.
He probably knows that, after all has been said and done, the BBRC issue is no longer about reason but has become an ego thing.
