THE Mandaue City Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) will open its doors to families of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) as part of its annual Christmas Open House and Family Day, expecting a large influx of visitors on Dec. 24 and 25, 2025.
Jail Supt. Warden Jessie Gingoyon said the open house is a long-standing Christmas tradition of the Mandaue BJMP, allowing PDLs to spend quality time with their loved ones during the holiday season.
“Yes, this is an open house. As practiced by the Mandaue BJMP, it is our traditional Christmas activity where families are given leeway to visit their loved ones and spend family time inside the facility,” Gingoyon said.
The warden noted that while family visits are regularly allowed, the volume of visitors during Christmas is expected to be significantly higher. He said the jail anticipates around 400 to 500 visitors or more over the two-day celebration.
“This time, the number of visitors is expected to be much higher. Because of this, food items are limited and visiting time may sometimes be restricted due to limited resources,” he explained.
To address the increased number of visitors, Gingoyon said the jail strengthened its manpower through additional job order personnel and implemented a more efficient visitor management system.
“We now have enough human resources, including augmentation from Job Order personnel. We also put in place an ID system and proper logging of visitors to make the process faster,” he said.
Gingoyon added that visits on December 24 and 25 will be allowed throughout the day.
“All-day visits are allowed on those dates,” he said.
Visit schedules
Meanwhile, Senior Insp. Roselle Paracale explained that regular visiting hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday, while special schedules are implemented during holidays.
“For December 25, all approved visitors are allowed. For December 24, visits will be divided by quadrants since we have four quadrants in the jail. The same setup will be applied during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day because these are holidays,” Paracale said.
She also shared that female PDLs were earlier given the opportunity to contact their families through phone calls from December 16 to 19, with more than 100 visitors accommodated daily.
“For female PDLs, we invited them last week and allowed them to call their families. We accommodated more than 100 visitors per day,” she said.
Paracale emphasized that cooperation from visitors is essential, especially in following security rules.
“We ask everyone to cooperate and ensure that there are no contraband items so the visiting process will be faster,” she said.
The jail also declared December 24 and 25 as Family Day, even though these dates do not fall on a Sunday, which is the usual family visiting day under BJMP policy.
“Although December 24 and 25 fall on a Wednesday and Thursday, we considered them as Family Day because many PDLs want to see their children,” Paracale said.
Financial struggles
She said many PDLs have not seen their children for years due to distance and financial constraints, as some families come from far-flung areas, such as Negros and northern and southern Cebu.
“There are PDLs who have not seen their children for three years because their families live far away. Some families cannot even afford transportation,” she said.
Because of this, Paracale said the jail administration provides transportation assistance to some families in need.
“We encourage our personnel to help families who are really struggling financially. When PDLs are able to see their loved ones, they become calmer and easier to manage,” she added.
For female PDLs, Paracale clarified that while visitor numbers were previously limited due to space constraints, restrictions will be lifted on December 25 as long as visitors are included in the approved list. She also clarified policies on conjugal visits for female PDLs, saying these are regulated to prevent health and safety issues. / ABC