MISAMIS Oriental Governor Yevgeny Emano has formed a team to work on a possible second wave of jail decongestion program of the provincial jail before the year ends.
Emano said he wanted to give inmates the second chance to reform their lives in a legal way.
Provincial legal officer Neil Pacana said the governor wanted to have another wave of jail decongestion after the success of the first wave of the program where several inmates were freed.
"Sa unang jail decongestion program sa milabayng mga bulan, sunod-sunod ang pag acquit kon pag libre sa mga inmates gikan sa walay kasiguraduhang mga kaso kon ugaling buot pa nila modepensa sa ilang kaugalingon kutob sa ilang makaya," the capitol said in a press briefer.
Pacana said the jail decongestion program is an initiative of the Department of Justice (DOJ) for inmates facing non-heinous crimes such as theft, robbery, among others.
"Kung ang ilang kaso molangkob sa pagpayuhot o paggamit sa ginadiling droga o kaha paglapas sa Republic Act 9262, posibleng makapahimulos ang mga inmates sa nasangpit nga programa, kung diin ang Misamis Oriental Provincial Government ang pinaka aktibo nga nag implementar niini," the Capitol added.
"Kung wala pa naningkamot ug nag pursigido sa Gov. Bambi Emano balewala lamang kini nga programa sa DOJ," Pacana said.
The said program includes free legal assistance and medical services from the Department of Health (DOH).
The capitol said more than a thousand inmates were already released through the efforts of the Provincial Legal Office, Prosecutors Office, and regional trial court branches in Northern Mindanao.
At present, the Misamis Oriental Provincial Jail (MOPJ) now only has less than 600 inmates compared to the previous record of more than 800 detainees.
"Dili mga ilahas nga hayop ang atong mga kaigsoonang piniriso nga walay ikaduhang higayon nga makapanginabuhing desente ug gawasnon hinungdan naningkamot gayud kining ma-implementar ang programa, iyawat na lang ang MOPJ mapaluagan," Emano said.