THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7 will construct three facilities in 2019 to address the congestion of detainees in Cebu Province.
Cebu Provincial Jail Warden Rosalina Malahay said the BJMP 7 purchased a 26,018-square-meter lot in Toledo City where the construction of a new jail facility is ongoing.
She said the budget for the building is set at P42 million. It is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The facility, Malahay said, can accommodate 500 persons deprived of liberty, the detainees who are either waiting for judgment, or trial of their respective cases.
Meanwhile, the BJMP 7 has set aside P16 million for each of the two jail facilities that will be constructed in Balamban and Tuburan between July and September this year.
Malahay said the new Argao District Jail is already congested. Designed for a population of 43 detainees, the facility had 115 detainees as of Thursday, June 13.
BJMP 7 is also planning to build jail facilities in Barili and Santander. For these projects, Malahay urged local government units and the Cebu Provincial Government to donate lots to BJMP 7.
During the second quarterly meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) at the Capitol in Cebu City last June 13, Malahay reported that the congestion rate of detention facilities run by the BJMP 7 has spiked to 570 percent.
Malahay said 16,647 detainees are crammed in 21 jail facilities in the province.
The jail official also asked the Provincial Government to donate another lot for the construction of a new BJMP-Cebu office. Malahay and her personnel are running their tasks inside the building of the BJMP 7.
For his part, outgoing Gov. and vice governor-elect Hilario Davide III said he will endorse Malahay’s request for lot donation to governor-elect Gwendolyn Garcia. (From SCG of SuperBalita Cebu, KAL)