THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is planning to use the detention facility of the local government constructed at the property of the San Ramon Prison and Penal Colony, Zamboanga City in preparation for the expected increase of inmates.
Zamboanga City Reformatory Center (ZCRC) Warden Ervin Diaz said they will use the facility as the number of inmates is expected to further increase once the Philippine National Police (PNP) will resume its anti-drug campaign.
The PNP is scheduled to resume the anti-drug campaign dubbed as Oplan Tokhang after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered its resumption.
Diaz said the ZCRC is congested since there are 2,392 inmates at the detention facility, which is designed for 800 detainees.
He said those who will be detained at the Ran Ramon detention facility are inmates with lighter offenses and whose court appearances are scheduled several months away.
He added the facility in San Ramon can accommodate more than 200 inmates.
Due to congested jail, the warden is worried over the security as well as the health of the inmates detained at the ZCRC.
The local government-owned facility in San Ramon was used as detention center for the arrested members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) involved in the 2013 siege.
The facility is now vacant since the detained MNLF members were transferred to the government detention facility in Bicutan, Taguig City. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)