The El Niño dry spell has forced the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) to allow their inmates to spend more time outside their cells during the day.
This was before an inmate collapsed during a dance presentation yesterday morning.
Ralph Daitol, nurse on duty at CPDRC, identified the 29-year-old inmate as Alejandro Rosal.
Daitol said Rosal’s fellow inmates noticed him not feeling well before their dance presentation at 10:30 a.m.
Rosal was advised to rest and he was unable to join their presentation.
Daitol said Rosal’s condition may have been caused by overexertion especially during their practices.
He ruled out heat stroke even if the state weather bureau Pagasa warned of warmer temperatures due to the El Niño dry spell.
Marco Toral, Capitol consultant on jail management, said the CPDRC management allowed inmates to go out of their cells from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. to cool off to avoid any heat strokes as temperatures rise at noon and in the afternoon.
The inmates are allowed to stay at the quadrangle.
Toral said CPDRC has 2,835 inmates detained, more than the 1,600 capacity of their cells.
He said they already proposed the construction of an additional building that will house inmates with bailable cases or short-term penalties.
Toral said they converted the mess hall to serve as the sleeping quarters of 500 inmates at night.
He said the jail has no problem with their water supply.