Arlene Sasing went to visit her husband Jupiter, 41, at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) yesterday morning along with their teenage daughter. But when jail guards called out Jupiter to inform him he had visitors, no one answered.
They later found the inmate already lifeless beside his bed. He was in a kneeling position with a rope tied around his neck and the other end tied to the upper deck of a bunk bed.
Jupiter, a resident of barangay Yati, Lilo-an, could not be seen from outside the prison cell as a curtain was covering his area.
Acting Provincial Warden Romeo Manansala said they allow inmates to put curtains especially in cooler months. The provincial jail is administered by the provincial government and is located in the mountainous area of barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.
“There is no rule prohibiting inmates from putting up curtains in the deck. We tolerate this because the area is cold especially when December approaches,” Manansala said in Cebuano.
Jupiter was in jail for possession of illegal drugs. He has been detained at the CPDRC’s second floor for the past four months, along with 18 other prisoners.
According to Manansala, Sasing was the taciturn type. Other inmates relayed to him that a few days before, Jupiter and Arlene had quarreled over personal issues.
Jail authorities rushed Jupiter to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), but the attending physician declared him dead on arrival at past 12 p.m.
Manansala said they have not ruled out foul play. Jail officials and homicide investigators wanted to subject the body to an autopsy, but the victim’s family refused to give its consent.
The incident happened during visiting hours so jail guards were busy checking the quadrangle, access door and conjugal rooms of the inmates.
Manansala said they lack jail guards to man the CPDRC, which was built to accommodate 1,200 inmates but is actually housing 1,720 prisoners.
Senior Supt. Noli Romana, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said he has yet to check with the homicide section if the CPDRC has already sent its report on the incident./WITH CORRESPONDENT MICHELLE JOY L. PADAYHAG