Inmates caught using shabu

Four inmates were allegedly caught using shabu inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) on Spy Wednesday.

CPDRC acting jail warden Roberto “Bobby” Legaspi said policemen assigned to the facility were conducting a roving inspection when they caught the inmates sniffing suspected shabu last Wednesday night.

A gram of suspected shabu was seized from the inmates in Cell 25 which houses at least 22 detainees.

A case will be filed against the inmates for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, he said. The four were placed in an isolation cell since Holy Week.

The management also deferred the visitation privileges of the inmates caught and the other inmates of Cell 25 as well.

In a separate development, Legaspi said CPDRC has resumed accepting new inmates from municipal police stations despite the lack of cells. However, only those who have commitment orders from the courts will be accommodated.

“We can't do anything but accept those with commitment orders. We will find a room for them,” he said, adding that they are accepting up to 10 inmates a week from municipal jails.

Other new inmates, however, have to sleep using improvized hammocks along the small hallways of the penitentiary, he said.

CPDRC had stopped accepting inmates August last year after its population ballooned to more than 3,000, exceeding its 1,500 capacity. In fact, each of the jail's 119 cells is being occupied by 30 to 40 inmates, which exceeds the standard 12 to 18 capacity.

The facility currently has 2,732 inmates as it regularly transfers insular prisoners. At least 30 insular prisoners were sent to the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City on Easter Sunday to serve their sentences.

Insular prisoners are those who have been convicted and sentenced to more than three years in prison. The transfer of insular prisoners is aimed at lessening the number of detainees at the provincial jail.

Legaspi, however, said once CPDRC again reaches the 3,000 mark, the jail management will reassess whether or not to accept more inmates.

In a bid to decongest the province-run jail, 19 additional prison cells that can accommodate up to 600 inmates will be constructed inside the jail compound.

The Capitol has earmarked P4.56 million for the construction of additional cells to address CPDRC's overpopulation problem, but the construction of the additional cells has yet to start.

Legaspi said some inmates have built shanties (kubol-kubol) in the quadrangle but these are set to be demolished. Shanties are prohibited inside the jail because some of them were reportedly used as drug dens in the past.