Warden appeals for help to feed Cebu City inmates

If help is not given soon, close to 5,000 inmates of the Cebu City Jail may go hungry with no food to eat starting next month.

Fearing that this may cause a riot, Cebu City Jail Warden Supt. Arnel Peralta called on Mayor Tomas Osmeña for assistance.

Peralta said they were informed by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) national headquarters that the release of the inmates’ subsistence allowance may suffer delays beginning next month because the number of prisoners has continually exceeded projected numbers.

This prompted Peralta to write a letter to Osmeña asking for subsidy.

“It would be of great help on the part of our clients concerning daily basic needs and their operational problems,” said Peralta in the letter dated August 3 received by the mayor yesterday.

The jail currently houses 4,772 inmates or almost thrice its intended capacity of 1,700.

Each inmate is allotted P60 daily for meals released monthly by the BJMP office in Manila. With the current number of inmates, this amounts to 286,320 pesos daily or more than P8.5 million monthly and more than P103 million yearly.

“Luoy kaayo ang city jail nato ani. Di ba kaha ni mag-riot (With this, our city jail is in a sorry state. This might cause a riot.),” Peralta said.

“Akong gikahadlukan ani, kung magutman ni atong mga priso ani. Nya, maka-create g’yud nig chaos kung unsa ba. Dako kaayo ning threat sa peace and order nato dinhi sa syudad,” he added.

(I’m afraid our inmates will starve. And it can really create chaos which will be a big threat to our city’s peace and order situation.)

But chances are slim for the jail to get the city’s help as Osmeña is standing pat on an earlier pronouncement not to provide subsistence allowance for the city’s inmates.

“Why should we give money to fund corruption,” the mayor told reporters on Friday.

“The reason why I don’t want (to give subsidy is because) they refused to have it audited (by the city). If they want, I’ll handle everything. I will take care of the food but I will let the barangays do the catering, give livelihood projects to the barangay. That way, it’s check and balance. BJMP can see whether money is properly spent,” Osmeña explained.

With Osmeña’s refusal, Peralta said jail authorities are left with no choice but to “look for ways”.

While soliciting help from the private sector is strictly prohibited, Peralta said, they can receive contributions by way of deeds of donation.

Once again, the Cebu City Jail figured in another controversy after several contraband items including cell phones and prohibited drugs were discovered during a surprise raid last Thursday.

The items were found in the cell of an inmate with alleged connections to drugs dealings at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

In a memorandum dated July 27, the BJMP central office called on all BJMP regional directors to come up with contingency plans to address the shortage of the prisoners’ subsistence allowance.