Wednesday, August 06, 2008 New committee to oversee city jail
CEBU City Vice Mayor Michael Rama will create a new oversight committee to run the Cebu City Jail after learning that illegal drugs, bladed weapons and other contrabands continue to circulate there.
Rama said he doubts the recent report of City Jail Warden Efren Nemeño because illegal drugs were not included in the list of items that were confiscated from inmates during an inspection last month.
He told reporters yesterday that he has been getting reports that some inmates still manage to smuggle illegal drugs into the facility in Barangay Kalunasan, which now was 2,327 inmates.
In a report on Aug. 1, Nemeño enumerated the items confiscated during two inspections conducted in July 27 and July 30, including four rolls of tin foil, transparent plastic strips, three improvised heaters and five improvised paper wick.
‘Not the truth’
“They’re not telling the truth. The fact nga naay tin foil diha, naay drugs,” Rama told a news conference yesterday.
Bladed and sharp items like scalpels, flat bars, ice picks, knives, blades, six-inch round bars, assorted wires and other tools were also recovered from inmates of three cells at the city jail.
Sun.Star Cebu called Nemeño for his comment yesterday but jail officers said he already left his office.
Rama, who is also chairman of the Cebu City Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), said he gave Nemeño a chance when the latter became jail warden in February 2006.
While he credits the jail warden for achievements such as stopping the practice of having women visit male inmates, the issue on the illegal drugs has not been addressed, he said.
Check
“The problem on illegal drugs inside the jail has not been completely eliminated. Some problems have been addressed but there’s still a lot of housekeeping that needs to be done... that is why we will reactivate the oversight committee, just to check where they are now in their programs and activities,” said Rama.
He will ask the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to appoint one of its officials to head the committee, which will be tasked to oversee the management of the city jail.
The committee will be composed of representatives from the DILG, City Health Department, City Prose-cutor’s Office and the Parole and Probation Office.
An oversight committee was first formed in 2003 after illegal activities inside the former Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) in Barangay Apas got out of hand.
The committee stopped operating when Gregorio Bacolod, then Parole and Probation Office national administrator and head of the oversight committee, left the body two years ago.
In his report, Nemeño also informed Rama of his request for the construction of additional facilities such as the waiting area for inmates’ visitors, lawyer-client chamber and kitchen.
He also requested the installation of a public address system, surveillance cameras, communication equipment and the full computerization of inmates’ records. (LCR )
