Do a QC, De Lima urges other local governments

Leila de Lima

Other local governments should follow the example of Quezon City and pass an ordinance that would let people with minor violations either pay a fine or render community service instead of being jailed, according to Sen. Leila de Lima.

The senator, who is detained on what she said were trumped-up drug charges, said ordinances like the one passed by Quezon City would address the overcrowding and subhuman conditions in government-run detention cells. It would also help free up court dockets.

Other local governments should “do their share in improving the system that would ameliorate the deplorable conditions of our inmates,” De Lima said in a statement.

Perennial problem

“It is no secret that jail congestion is a perennial problem in our jails and prisons all over the country,” she added.

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology has a congestion rate of 582.37 percent nationwide, while the Bureau of Corrections has a congestion rate of 130 percent across eight penitentiaries, prison and penal farms, she noted.

Under Quezon City Ordinance No. SP-2752 signed by Mayor Herbert Bautista on Oct. 4, violators of city ordinance could settle their cases by paying fines or undergoing community service.

Cases would be filed only if they fail to pay the fine within a given period, or when they challenge the charges against them.