Mga selda dadagdagan sa Bohol

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PNA) – The provincial government of Bohol is willing to allocate ₱10 million for the construction of additional prison cells at the Bohol District Jail (BDJ) to address the concern on congested jails in the province in Barangay Cabawan here.

Gov. Edgar Chatto tasked the Local Finance Committee (LFC) to identify source for the ₱10 million needed for the purpose.

Chatto instructed the LFC to submit the report to the Provincial Development Council and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for endorsement.

This is to pre-empt further overcrowding as arrested persons from anti-illegal drugs campaign of the police continue to pile up.

Provincial Jail Warden Jose Rusylvi Abueva expressed during the recent Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting that the BDJ badly needs more prison cells with rate the detainees increase but they lack funds.

Abueva had recommended the construction of 10 additional prison cells at the BDJ which needs ₱5 million.

BDJ only has 25 prison cells which could accommodate only 400 inmates.

At present, it is already overcrowded with 740 detainees. With the daily anti-illegal drugs operations, it might go up to 1,000, he added.

Abueva also noted that a number of detainees have been there for years already as their cases had dragged in court.

However, 10 of the detainees from BDJ had recently been transferred to the New Bilibid Prison.

Abueva said 901 of the 1,399 inmates in entire Bohol have been detained for drug-related cases.

Tagbilaran City Jail has the most number of drug detainees with 198 of the 275 detainees. At the BDJ, 469 of the 740 inmates face drug cases.

Third in the rank is Talibon District Jail with 92 of the 159 detainees have been charged with drug-related offenses.

Ubay Jail has 103 of the 149 detainees, and Carmen has 39 of the 76 detainees implicated in drug cases.

As to the problem on overcrowded jails in Bohol attributed to the daily turn-out of drug cases, Abueva had sought for assistance from the three congressmen of Bohol to facilitate budget for the purpose.