Foul smell from overflowing septic tank adds to overcrowding woes of Cordova detainees

Aside from staying in an overcrowded detention cell, 76 detainees are also enduring the foul smell of an overflowing septic tank there.

Senior Insp. Clemente Ceralde Jr. of the Cordova police station said that some of the detainees had already wanted to be remanded instead to the Cebu Provincial Detentation and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) because of their difficult situation at the detention cell.

The detainees were staying in a 6 feet by 6 feet area divided into 3 cells.

But Ceralde said that they could not be remanded yet to the CPDRC, which no longer accepts detainees because it is also overcrowded.

Erwin Inoc, 47, of Barangay Bangbang, Cordova, who was arrested for selling and possession of illegal drugs, said in Cebuano that they would sleep in shifts because of the narrowness of the cell area.

Inoc said that some would sleep on the floor while others sleep on the hammocks.

Ceralde, however, said that the septic had already been siphoned last week yet it took only a week for it to overflow again.

He said that the police station had two septic tanks and it should not have have been full already.

Engineer Soripo Sinculan, municipal engineer of Cordova, said that he would have the piping of the tank inspected because it could have been clogged and could have caused the backflow and wastewater to seep out the tank causing the smell.

“Nalimpyohan namo na last year og nakita namo kanang mga trapo, papel, tissue ug uban pa nga maoy naka clog sa tubo ug maoy hinungdan sa backflow,” (We cleaned it last year and we saw rugs, papers, tissues and others that clogged the piping causing the backflow),” he said.

Cordova Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho said, that what happened at the detention cell should not be blamed only to the local government unit as they had already exhausted their budget for the police building and even created the extension of the detention cell when it is not their concern anymore.

“Limited ra kaayo ang among budget unya wala gyu’y suporta gikan sa national, Provincial government, BJMP ug Philippine National Police nga ila naman unta nang responsibilidad ang uban mga detainees (We have very limited budget and we never had the support from the national, Provincial government, BJMP and PNP when other detainees are already their responsibilty),” said Cho.