6 out of 10 inmates in Southern Mindanao face drug raps – BJMP

Overcrowded jails in the provinces. (CDN FILE PHOTO/ADOR MAYOL)

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte – At least six out of 10 inmates in prisons across Southern Mindanao face drug-related charges, according to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in the region.

The BJMP figure, released on Wednesday, appears to validate claims about the growing drug problem.

“The influx of persons committing drug-related (offenses) has largely contributed to severe congestion of jails in the region,” Senior Supt. Lyndon Torres, BJMP Southern Mindanao director, said in a statement.

Torres said some 3,615 detainees, representing 66 percent of the total jail population of 5,507, have been charged under the anti-drug law.

The detainees include two Korean males.

Some 2,527 of the drug offenders, or 69 percent, belong to the 22-39-year-old-age bracket, while only 18 are over 59 years old. Some 303 drug offenders are between 19 and 21 years old, according to Torres.

Davao City Jail’s Female Dormitory has the highest number of drug inmates at 388 or 75 percent of the total jail population of 451. On the average, the female dorm in Tagum City Jail in Davao del Norte has 37 drug suspects out of its 40 occupants, or about 92 percent.

All data were based on June 30 records, the BJMP said.

Torres said the trend appeared to be the same nationwide.

“The amendment of RA 6425 (Dangerous drugs act of 1972) to its improved version as RA 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002), spurred the rise of statistics of drug-related cases,” Torres said.

The regional jail chief said the rising number of incarcerated drug suspects has resulted in the congestion of jail facilities across the region. The jailing of drug pushing suspects has “heavily compromised Philippine jail settings,” he warned.

The Montevista District Jail in Compostela Valley has the highest congestion rate at 921 percent, according to Torres. This means that the number of its inmates is nine times of its capacity.

Even Davao City’s “multi-awarded facility,” Davao City Jail Female Dorm, despite its village-type design, has been encountering the same problems, said Torres.

“It is now suffering a 489 percent rate of congestion,” said Torres, adding that the ideal area per inmate should be 4.7 square meters, and the standard for 10 inmates in a dorm-type facility is 6-by-8 meters.  SFM/rga