NEW JAIL IN LAPU BUILT ON SCHEDULE

Current jail houses nearly 2, 300 inmates, although it had been built to house only 300 persons

Officials inaugurated a new city jail in Barangay Mactan, LapuLapu City on Monday, raising hopes that the city’s prisoners would no longer have to endure such cramped quarters.

Supt. Julius Arro, the city’s warden, the new building can accommodate around 1,000 inmates. It has 36 cells spread out across four levels.

At present, the jail houses 2,284 inmates, although it was built for only 300.

“Alam naman natin na ang kaakibat ng problema ng congestion ay magkakasakit ang mga inmates natin (We know that whenever there’s congestion, the inmates tend to get sick),” said Arro.

Work on the new jail began last October 2017 and was completed about three months ahead of schedule. The new jail building in Sitio Soong cost P17 million and was paid for by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which had allocated P333 million for improvements on all jails in Central Visayas.

The Lapu-Lapu City Government donated 2 new vehicles to the BJMP, for use in transporting the detainees to their hearings.

Mayor Paz Radaza also promised to provide three-level bunk beds for the inmates. “Dili nato igsapayan ang ilang mga kaagi sa wala pa sila nahisulod dinhi, kay sama nato, they all deserve, if not the best, a better place to live in (Let’s not disregard who they were before they entered this prison,” Radaza said.