A ticking time bomb

There is a move by the management of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center to put the brake on the influx of inmates from towns and cities into the jail facility due to the worsening problem on overcapacity.

CPDRC Warden Reynaldo Valmoria said he is planning to ask permission from Governor Hilario Davide III in his effort for the CPDRC to temporarily stop accepting detainees from other detention facilities in the province.

The center is already too congested. CPDRC’s population of 3,910 inmates is over 200 percent of the facility’s capacity of 1,500. This prompted Valmoria to seek for a temporary halt to the entry of more detainees.

If the plan materializes, it would be the fourth time the CPDRC moved to stop accepting new inmates. Based on records, the detention facility temporarily halted admission in 2013, 2016 and 2017 because of overpopulation.

The CPDRC has reached its boiling point and authorities should need to take immediate measures before it’s too late.

Since it is already too congested, the move to ban the entry of additional inmates is just reasonable.

Now, it’s high time for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to upgrade its detention facilities in the towns and cities. An improved jail facility in Danao City, for instance, would make prison authorities in that city less dependent on the provincial jail.

Yes the BJMP is doing its best to solve the problem. In fact, few weeks ago, its regional office was busy inaugurating new facilities across Central Visayas as part of the move to improve condition of detainees.

It cannot be denied that the worsening situation at the CPDRC has come to a point where everything is starting to be uncontrollable. The provincial government, which manages the facility, should need to take immediate action to control its overcapacity, a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.