Prisons bureau to decongest jails one at a time

One down. 465 jails to go.

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said on Tuesday it was looking to decongest the national penal system a jail at a time, as it opened a P4-million facility to house 168 inmates at Ubay District Jail in the village of Camambugan in Bohol province.

The Ubay District Jail previously had a 630-percent congestion rate, where 168 inmates were crammed in the old and dilapidated detention facility originally built for just 23 detainees. Some 71 percent of the detainees are suspected drug offenders.

BJMP Director Serafin Barretto Jr. said that apart from decongesting the Ubay District Jail, the new building now had space for rehabilitation and recreational activities.

“At the former jail, our inmates can’t easily have sunning activities due to the limited area in the facility. We are happy that we are able to provide them not just an area for sunning but also for other recreational activities,” Barreto said.

A report from the Commission on Audit previously stated that the BJMP has a congestion rate of 511 percent in the 466 jails it manages and operates nationwide. This meant that each jail has five times more detainees than its capacity.