City Hall vows to act on severe jail congestion

This scene is typical in all of Cebu City’s 11 police precincts. Detention cells that are filled to the brim have inmates waiting for each other’s turn to get some rest. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

THE head of the Cebu City Council committee on public order and safety is checking on reports that all 11 police precincts in the city are now severely overcrowded with the police crackdown on illegal drugs resulting to the arrest of dozens of suspects languishing in detention cells while waiting for charges to be filed.

Councilor Dave Tumulak on Tuesday planned to request the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office to fast-track the investigation of drug-related cases to help decongest stockades.

Detainees whose cases merit filing in court are then committed to the bigger Cebu City jail pending trial.

Tumulak, who is also the deputy mayor for police matters, also called on local cops to be sure to gather all needed evidence in the charges filed before the prosecutor against suspects nabbed during their antidrug operations.

“All evidence should be submitted to the City Prosecutor’s Office to avoid dismissal of the case. Because it’s useless if in case the police will be hasty in submitting complaints against arrested suspects and it will just get dismissed. That will defeat the purpose. We want to avoid that,” he said.

With the exponentially growing number of drug suspects arrested by Cebu City police operatives daily, detention facilities in the city’s 11 police stations have been filled far beyond capacity. In Punta Princesa alone, 26 suspects were crammed into two cells meant for just 20 people when Cebu Daily News visited the stockade, Monday.

The same is true with all other detention facilities in police stations across the city located in Parian, Fuente, Waterfront, Mabolo, Carbon, Taboan, Pardo, Talamban, Guadalupe and Mambaling.

In Fuente and Taboan, detention cells were brimming by as much as two times the number of prisoners intended for the stockades.
Tumulak, however, admitted that the city needed to look for ways to address the problem.

“We should also honor the rights of the suspects. Because as of this moment, since there is no court decision yet, they’re considered innocent,” Tumulak said.

“We have to look for ways. There should be proper ventilation, and proper hygiene should be observed in detention cells,” he added.

Over at the Cebu City Jail, heavy congestion is also a huge concern. The jail built to accommodate only 600 inmates now has 3,578 prisoners.

Sought for comment, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña revealed that among his long-term plans was the construction of a new jail at the site of the city’s landfill in Barangay Inayawan after it shall have been closed and rehabilitated.

“We have to help our prisoners because many of them don’t have lawyers. They just stay there forever. If they’re found guilty, they already served their penalty,” Osmeña said.