CPDRC no longer accepts new inmates

The management of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) will seek the approval of the governor to temporarily stop the admission of new inmates in the facility.

CPDRC Warden Reynaldo Valmoria said that the jail facility has become too congested as the inmate population rose to 3,910, as of yesterday.

This is over 200 percent of the facility's carrying capacity of 1,500.

It has over 100 cells and has closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs) on each floor.

Each cell ideally holds 12 to 16 inmates. Given the total number, the number of inmates per cell is over 30.

He told the reporters that he is planning to write a request letter to the governor and attach references for the measure because it will not be the first time that CPDRC will temporarily not accept new inmates.

“Sa una, nabuhat man diay kuno na. I have to get the references pa,” he said.

Looking back at the archives, it has been recorded through news articles that CPDRC implemented the same measure back in the years 2013, 2016, and 2017.

Back in those times, individuals who were facing charges and are still undergoing trial were detained at their respective city or municipal temporary detention cells or at the police stations.

In prior interviews, a number of officials of the provincial government have been considering the possibility of moving out inmates to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in the local government units where the prisoner is a resident.

Yesterday, Valmoria said that the transfer of 57 inmates to BJMP-Medellin has been approved by the court. However, their transfer is put on hold as the town’s jail facility is still undergoing construction works.

With this development, the estimated date of transfer to BJMP-Medellin will be between the months of September and November 2018.

Should the governor approves the request for CPDRC to temporarily stop accepting new inmates, Valmoria pledged to do internal cleansing and refining the systems inside to include a holistic rehabilitation program.