ILOILO City – Nine jails being constructed in select areas of Western Visayas are expected to address the congestion problem in the region’s various detention facilities.
According to Superintendent Gilbert Peremne, assistant director for administration of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Region 6, the national government has allocated P220 million this year for the construction of new jails.
The jails are up for completion early next year.
Peremne said the region’s 37 jail units are supposed to hold only 2,000 to 3,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) but are currently accommodating 9,595 PDLs.
One of the most congested jails is the Iloilo District Jail – Female Dormitory here which is holding 244 PDLs but has a capacity of only 30 PDLs.
“The national government is already addressing this,” said Peremne.
One of the jail facilities set to rise at the Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) in Barangay Nanga, Pototan, Iloilo is a P66-million four-storey male dormitory that could hold more than 1,000 PDLs.
Another extension female dormitory worth P28 million will also rise in the same area and could house some 1,000 PDLs, Peremne added.
The Metro Bacolod District Jail (MDBJ) male dormitory in Barangay Handumanan, Bacolod City also has a P40-million four-storey jail facility.
The towns of Dumalag, Capiz; Jordan, Guimaras; and Barotac Viejo, Iloilo each got P18 million for additional jail facilities.
Once completed, Peremne said, some PDLs will be transferred to these facilities to decongest the existing jail units here. (PNA)
