FOLLOWING the successive arrests of persons allegedly sneaking in contraband inside the Cebu City Jail, Councilor Dave Tumulak has asked the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7 to strengthen security inside the facility.
For the past four days, three females have been arrested by BJMP personnel and agents of the City Barangay Intelligence Network for sneaking in around 80 grams of suspected shabu and close to 40 ampules of nubain.
“This is why we want to tighten the security measures in the jail. I am also in favor of the inspection protocol that BJMP is implementing. It’s on case-to-case basis depending on the intelligence reports that authorities get on identified or suspected personalities visiting the facility,” Tumulak said.
Last Saturday, Violeta Bacus and Marlyn Estorgio were arrested by authorities for reportedly hiding a combined 77.97 grams of shabu inside their private body parts.
Around 73.19 grams were confiscated from Bacus, while Estorgio was caught with some 4.78 grams of shabu.
Three days later, authorities discovered some 38 transparent ampules of nubain inside a peanut butter jar brought by a visitor identified as Grace Abella.
All three women were detained at the facility’s female dormitory while waiting for a court hearing.
Tumulak, who is the City Government’s deputy mayor for police matters, said there is an ongoing investigation on the involvement of the inmates whom the arrested females were supposed to visit.
He said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 and the Philippine National Police is looking into the matter.
Water supply
Meanwhile, Tumulak said that the City Government will extend support in any way to address the reported scarcity of water supply inside the jail.
Around 5,044 inmates have reportedly not taken a bath for some time now.
The city jail is located in Barangay Kalunasan, which is an upland village.
Tumulak said he met with Jail Warden Col. Renante Rubio, who assured him that the matter has already been brought up to their regional office. (RTF)