BJMP wants drug test for all inmates

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said it will subject all inmates under its wing to drug tests to once and for all weed out prison personnel and their cohorts involved in illegal drug transactions inside the country’s jail facilities.

BJMP chief Jail Director Serafin Barreto confirmed Monday that the surprise and mandatory drug tests will be conducted on sentenced inmates or prisoners under litigation.

Through the mandatory drug tests, Barreto said they will determine if illegal drugs are still brought inside the prison cells. He added that this will also facilitate the removal of the rotten eggs of the BJMP who are in connivance with drug pushers bringing the contraband inside the country’s jails.

Barreto said that in support of the all-out war campaign against illegal drugs of the Duterte administration, jail wardens whose inmates tested positive for illegal drugs under their turfs will be removed from their posts.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said that more than 50 percent of the inmates in the BJMP jails in Metro Manila are incarcerated due to illegal drugs.

This was determined during the recent meeting called by Eastern Police District (EPD) Director, Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula where BJMP officials from Pasig, Mandaluyong, Marikina and San Juan cities were invited.

Sapitula who said that the jail cells in these cities are heavily congested forged noted that the EPD signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the BJMP to stop illegal drugs from being brought inside the detention cells.