Dalaw sa Pasko: At least 500 visit PDLs at Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory
Visitors line up to visit their jailed family members on Christmas Day, December 25, at the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory. | Photo from CCJMD
CEBU CITY, Philippines —Shortly after sunrise on Sunday, people started to line up outside of the male dormitory of the Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunsan, eager to finally spend Christmas Day with their jailed loved ones.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke in 2020, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) again opened the jail facility to visitors on Christmas Day.
As of noontime on Sunday, at least 500 individuals already came. All of them made sure to bring food to share with their jailed family members and relatives.
Jail Officer (JO3) Blanche Bation of the jail’s Community Relations Service Office (CRSO) said they expect the number of jail visitors to reach at least 700 before they end the Christmas Day visit at 5 p.m. today.
Bation said that they decided to extend the Christmas Day jail visitation this year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. instead of their 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. schedule in the past years to allow visitors to spend more time with Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) who are now detained at the jail facility in Barangay Kalunasan.
As of this posting, Bation said they have not encountered any problems from the implementation of their “Dalaw sa Pasko” program.
Their decision to hold a pre-registration of visitors was a big help.
Bation said jail officials have also noticed a massive drop in the number of contrabands that are being kept by PDLs.
“Since December 20, wala tay nakuha nga contrabands so far, especially kay very limited kaayo atoang ipadala, especially sa food,” she said.
Bation said that they have been very strict, especially in their inspection of food containers and others items that are brought inside the facility.
In fact, they prohibit the entry of viand like bola-bola, lumpia, and chorizo. They also prohibit slice bread, banana and grapes.
Meanwhile, Bation said, they will not accommodate special in-person jail visitations on Monday, Dec. 26. Jail visits for the rest of the year are scheduled from Dec. 27 to 31.
BJMP suspended jail visits when the pandemic broke. They restored in-person visits starting on Dec. 17.
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