ILOILO – There won’t be a revamp of district jail wardens for now, according to Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Region 6 director, Jail Chief Superintendent Arnel Gongona.
“Depende ‘yan sa performance nila. Kung nag-perform nang maayos, okay, walang problema,” said Gongona who was reassigned to Western Visayas from BJMP Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9) in January this year.
Gongona replaced Jail Senior Superintendent Joel Superficial who was reassigned to BJMP central office’s Directorate for Program Development.
He said the BJMP regularly assesses district jail wardens.
Among others, said Gongona, jail wardens must make sure their facilities are drug-free.
“Gawin natin ang tama sa jail, sa trabaho araw-araw para walang problema,” he stressed.
There must be regular jail inspection.
“Hindi puwedeng mag-relax lang kami. Dapat continuous ‘yung effort,” said Gongona.
The BJMP, in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, conducts unannounced jail inspections and drug tests on inmates and jail personnel.
From May 3 to 6 “greyhound operations” and random drug tests in district jails across Western Visayas yielded no illegal drugs and paraphernalia.
The search teams were assisted by drug-sniffing dogs and personnel from the Philippine National Police.
Around 700 persons deprived of liberty – who submitted urine samples –also tested negative during random drug tests.
In Aklan, operatives randomly conducted a drug test on 40 out of 197 inmates at the Aklan District Jail male and female dormitories in Barangay Nalook, Kalibo on May 6.
On the same day, the greyhound team also inspected the Roxas City Jail in Barangay San Jose, Roxas City, Capiz and subjected 58 out of 280 inmates in a random drug test.
Eight of 40 inmates at the Mambusao District Jail male dormitory in Barangay Bula, Mambusao, Capiz were also picked for drug testing.
On May 4, 378 persons were subjected to a random drug test at the Iloilo District Jail female and male dormitories in Pototan, Iloilo.
PDEA also conducted a drug test on 200 out of 983 inmates in the Iloilo City District Jail male dormitory in Barangay Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City on May 3. (Akean Forum/PN)
