More and more people are locked behind bars as the government steps up its campaign against illegal drugs and other forms of criminality.
Jail Chief Supt. Arnold Buenacosa, director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas (BJMP-7), said the rate of congestion in jails across the region now stands at 800 percent.
The Cebu City Jail, for example, currently houses 5,020 inmates or way above its ideal capacity of 1,700 inmates.
Buenacosa said jail congestion is the primary problem that has been hounding all the jails in the country for decades.
“And we all know that there are more inmates now due to the intensified campaign against illegal drugs,” he said in an interview.
Overcrowded jails has been tagged as the main reason why inmates get sick mostly with skin diseases.
Buenacosa said he met with other regional directors in the Visayas to find ways to address jail congestion.
Last May 21, a four-story detention facility was inaugurated in Sitio Soong, Brgy. Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City.
The new jail, which can accommodate 1,000 inmates, is seen to decongest the old building which has 2, 284 inmates.
On Monday, another detention facility will be inaugurated in Talibon town, Bohol.
Furthermore, Buencanosa said that by June, another jail facility will be inaugurated in Argao town, southern Cebu.
In an effort to reduce backlogs, the Supreme Court earlier introduced a program called “Judgement Day” were the trial courts hand over verdicts simultaneously.
The High Court also launched the “Hustisyeah” program in Cebu to unclog court dockets and address jail congestion.