The Cebu City government has formed a task force to decongest the overcrowded Cebu City jail in barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.
The task force was formed after acting Mayor Edgardo Labella issued an executive order to decongest the Cebu City jail, which is also called the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC).
Labella said there is an urgent need to decongest the city jail for the smooth rehabilitation of the inmates.
The BBRC, which has a capacity of 900 inmates, held 2,600 inmates as of Dec. 31, 2015.
The task force will be made up of the city mayor, the Cebu City legal office, representatives from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, two Cebu City council members, two representatives from a nongovernment organization, a representative from the Department of Justice and a representative from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Labella said the task force will focus on the inmates who have overstayed their sentence or those with probationary sentences.
The task force will also facilitate the training of professional and literate inmates to become paralegals or persons who can assist lawyers.
These paralegal inmates can help speed up the process of fixing court dates and can help in identifying which inmates pass a certain criteria for them to be released already.
Labella, who also heads the Cebu City Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), said the worsening congestion in the Cebu City jail is caused by the delay in the resolution of the inmates’ cases.
Based on the executive order, the task force will determine which of the inmates are already qualified to be released.
The task force will also establish a database of the cases to facilitate and expedite legal assistance to the inmates.
The task force has been tasked to formulate the rules and regulations for the implementation of the decongestion program.
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