‘GIVE ME FIVE!’

An inmate in one of two detention cells at the Punta Princesa Police Station waits for his turn to sleep. Since the stockade is filled way beyond capacity, inmates have to take turns lying down to sleep (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).

Cebu City Police Chief Joel Doria wants all 11 stations to arrest 5 drug suspects daily

The growing number of drug suspects arrested every day in Cebu City has filled all of the city’s 11 police station stockades way beyond capacity.

And there seems to be no clear solution in sight to the overcrowding that is, all the more, expected to spike in the coming days as each police station was given a fresh target to arrest five drug suspects daily.

“I want policemen in every station to arrest five drug suspects daily,” said Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director Senior Supt. Joel Doria, as the site of overcrowded detention facilities seemed not to bother him at all.

“Having too many inmates is not a reason for us to lie low in our campaign. We will double or even triple our efforts, and so expect the number of inmates to increase,” Doria said.

“Manghuhuli pa tayo. Kahit maliliit ang mga kulungan natin, isisiksik natin sila hanggat hindi sila nagbabago (We will conduct more arrests. Even if we have small detention facilities, we will squeeze them all in until they change their lives),” he added.

Based on records of the CCPO from July 1 to November 14 this year, a total of 1,324 drug suspects were arrested by the police in different operations in Cebu City.

Of the number, 211 are still detained at the police stations’ stockades, while the rest either posted bail or were committed to the Cebu City Jail.

Most of the detainees left cramped in detention cells across the city are male.

Female prisoners, on the other hand, are placed in a separate cell while some are allowed to stay in one of the rooms of the police station so that the stockades could be utilized by the male detainees.

In the Punta Princesa Police Station, the are at least 26 detainees who share two prison cells ideally built for just 20 people.

The detainees could barely move their bodies as there is not enough space for everyone to stretch out.

For food and water, the prisoners have to wait for their visitors to arrive. Those who are without, often share meals with detainees fortunate to have gotten a visit from friends and relatives.

At night, they lay down cartons on the floor for them to sleep on.

They take turns in using a toilet inside the cell that endlessly reeks of old urine.

Some detainees suffer from cough, colds, diarrhea, and skin itchiness.

Archie Rollon could not sleep well.

For eight straight days, the stench of sweat, dirt, and a toilet inside their cramped, unventilated stockade have made it difficult for him and 25 other detainees to breathe.

“Lisud kaayo ang among kahimtang. Wala mi kalainan sa mga baboy nga magpuli-puli og higda sa usa ka lugar nga gamay, baho, og sobrang kainit (It’s really difficult. We are like pigs who take turns lying down on a small, fetid, and humid place),” he told Cebu Daily News.

The 36-year-old construction worker was arrested last November 7 on charges that he had sold a pack of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) to an undercover policeman.

He was charged before the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, particularly for peddling illegal drugs — a non-bailable offense.

“Nagpakiluoy mi ninyo. Nag-antus mi pag-ayo. Maayo pa man ang mananap makasuroy-suroy og mahanginan pa sa gawas. Kami intawn diri, naligo sa singot tungod sa grabeng kainit (Have pity on us. We are suffering. Even animals are treated better than us because they can roam around and enjoy fresh air outside. We, however, bathe in our own sweat because of intense heat),” he said.

Rollon appealed to government authorities to hasten the legal process so that he could be committed to the bigger Cebu City Jail.

No guarantee

But getting transferred from police detention cells to the Cebu City Jail does not guarantee an end to the inmates’ ordeal.
The facility, run by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), is also congested by an astounding 650 percent.

According to warden, Supt. Jessie Calumpang, the Cebu City Jail, which was designed for 600 inmates, currently has a total of 3,578 inmates.

The BJMP has set aside a budget of P89 million for the construction of an additional building at the city jail next year, set for completion by May or June of 2017.

“I hope the new building will help decongest our current facility,” Calumpang told CDN.

“Of course, our normal sentiment is we want them to realize how hard it is to be imprisoned. However, as much as possible, we want to provide them with a humane environment. They have not been convicted yet,” he said.

Most inmates at the city jail await the outcome of their cases that have yet to be decided on by the trial courts.

The wait

Back at the Punta Princesa Police Station, SPO3 Sean Colobio, the station chief, explained that they had already filed charges against their detainees before the prosecutors’ office.

But the prosecutor, Colobio said, had yet to forward the cases to the Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) for the judge to issue a commitment order to transfer the inmates from the police station to the Cebu City Jail.

“We have done our part, and there’s nothing we can do now. We just have to wait for further orders from the prosecutor or the court,” Colobio said.

Cebu Daily News tried to reach Cebu City Prosecutor Liceria Lofranco-Rabillas last night for her comments but failed.
The slow disposal of court cases in Cebu City as well as in other areas of the country has left more than a thousand pending cases in each trial court, resulting to severe jail overcrowding.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, in a visit to Cebu last year, assured that the judiciary is not blind or deaf to the prisoners’ continuing clamor for the speedy disposition of their cases.

Sereno said the Supreme Court (SC) has devised various ways to help ease the case loads of judges such as the implementation of the electronic court system or E-court which allows judges and court personnel to organize case flows from the filing of complaints up to their resolution and enforcement.

Other programs to decongest jails include “rolling courtrooms” called Enhanced Justice on Wheels where hearings are held for inmates ready to enter a “guilty” plea during arraignment and who have served time in jail longer than their supposed sentence.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Cebu City expects prison statistics to climb relentlessly in the coming days as police chief Senior Supt. Joel Doria vowed to step-up his anti-drugs campaign at full speed.