With the Cebu City Jail becoming congested with an estimated 6,000 inmates housed in the facility made for only nearly 2,000 inmates, the Cebu City government plans to build a new jail in Barangay Guba. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government is planning to build a new jail facility for male prisoners in a city-owned property at Barangay Guba.
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella made this announcement during a press conference on Monday, March 2, 2020, two days after police raided the present Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunasan in which several contraband, such as illegal drugs, were confiscated.
“We have to transfer the jail, and build a new one. There is a need for a bigger facility to house over 6,000 inmates,” said Labella.
Labella also said his administration would be aiming to start the project’s civil works within this year.
“We will do whatever it takes to turn this plan into actualization. This will be one of our administration’s priorities, and we’re targeting to have things rolling by 2020,” he said.
The mayor said they were planning to erect the new jail facility on a 20-hectare property owned by the city government in Barangay Guba.
Guba is located approximately 25 kilometers north of Kalunasan through the Cebu Transcentral Highway. Both villages are classified as ‘mountain barangays’ due to their location.
Congestion as root-problem
Labella said he was planning to endorse the project to ‘higher-ups’ to get fundings.
His announcement came after officers from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO – 7) conducted a greyhound operation in Cebu City Jail’s Male Dormitory.
While he lauded the efforts of the police, Labella said providing a bigger facility for the prisoners could help solve congestion, which he cited as the root cause of all issues plaguing the penal facility.
“I commend the police on inspecting our jail facilities. But in my personal view, it’s really time we have to have a bigger facility in order to prevent congestion. Our jail right now is unhealthy, unsanitary, and problems (there) are getting worse,” said Labella.
“Conducting several greyhound operations is good but these will never be enough (to solve the problems),” he added.
If plans would push through, Labella said the city jail in Barangay Kalunasan would be converted either into a facility that solely houses female inmates, an annex of the existing Operation Second Chance (OSC), or both.
Presently, the Cebu City Jail compound is divided into two sections — the Male Dormitory and Female Dormitory.
Standing right behind the facility is the OSC, the institution that houses juvenile delinquents.
City jail’s male dormitory was designed to accommodate 1,900 prisoners at most. However, the over 6,000 inhabitants there are now packed in the cells.
Meanwhile, Labella is also open to having signal jammers installed around Cebu City Jail if it meant stopping prisoners from doing illegal transactions inside the jail, and that the city government is willing to help jail managers in their respective requests./dbs