‘30 spots open’ at prov’l jail

THIRTY inmates from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) will be transferred to the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa on Monday.

That means the facility will be able to accommodate more inmates from neighboring towns.

Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale said the warden called her about the development yesterday.

CPDRC warden Romeo Manansala had asked her to stop accepting inmates since the facility was crowded. His request was approved on May 27.

The CPDRC was built to house 1,400 inmates, but it currently holds 1,684 inmates.

“We will be sending 30 detainees to Manila. By then makadawat nasad ta (we can again accept inmates),” Magpale told reporters.

Earlier request

Magpale had sent a letter to Regional Trial Court Branch 62 Judge James Stewart Ramon Himalaloan of Oslob town to delay the transfer of prisoners to the provincial jail.

Himalaloan issued the order on April 30 and addressed this to judges that cover the towns of Alegria, Ginatilan, Malabuyoc, Oslob, Samboan and Santander, all in the second district.

“While we see your point in committing all prisoners concerned to the CPDRC, we, however, appeal to you to hold in abeyance the said order, considering the provincial jail facility at present has gone beyond its maximum capacity,” a part of the letter read.

The prisoners, who the CPDRC will not be able to still accommodate, will remain in temporary police detention cells.

“I understand the LGUs (local government units) that one of the reasons they want to transfer prisoners to the CPDRC is they do not have enough funds for food. I was thinking in the meantime, we can subsidize the inmates’ meals and let them stay in the towns’ police detention cell,” Magpale said in Cebuano.