Davide’s promise: A ‘drug-free’ CPDRC before his term ends

CEBU, Philippines - Governor Hilario Davide III has promised to clean the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) from contraband items before his second term ends.

He made the remark a day after he appeared at a congressional inquiry that tackled the controversies surrounding the facility, including its alleged mismanagement and the prevalence of illegal drugs inside.

Davide said they won’t relax their efforts in achieving a contraband-free jail.

“We will continue to enforce measures at the provincial jail,” he told reporters yesterday as vowed no end to greyhound operations to weed out contraband in the penitentiary.

He also made a stern warning to all jail guards to stop their illegal activities inside or else they will face corresponding penalties.

At least six jail guards and personnel are now being investigated by the Capitol’s Committee on Discipline and Investigation (CODI) for being contraband facilitators inside the jail.

“Kun masakpan mag-conspire sa ubang mga inmates pagpalusot diha sa mga contraband, then they will have to face the consequences,” Davide said.

Davide also urged the town and city mayors and station police chiefs to also clean their respective jails from illegal items in support to President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

“I’ll ask the mayors and station chiefs to also conduct searches in their municipal jail kay as I’ve always said, we support Duterte’s war on drugs, in and out of the jail. Mao pud na atong gipaningkamutan,” he said.

The facility currently has 3,040 inmates (2,833 males and 207 females), way over its allowed capacity of 1,500 inmates, according to CPDRC administration officer Rey Ignacius Ruiz.

However, Davide said the facility will continue accepting inmates with commitment orders from the courts.

CPDRC had stopped accepting inmates August last year after its population ballooned to more than 3,000. In fact, each of the jail’s 119 cells is being occupied by 30 to 40 inmates, which exceeds the standard 12 to 18 capacity.

Meanwhile, Davide has welcomed the proposal to transfer CPDRC management and supervision to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology as raised by Cebu Third District Representative Gwendolyn Garcia at the House inquiry on Tuesday.

Davide admitted that the provincial jail management lacks the expertise and training when it comes to these aspects.

At present, two jail-related bills are pending before the Lower House: one authored by Representative Teddy Baguilat of Mountain Province and Representative Francisco Jose Matugas of Surigao del Norte.

Baguilat’s bill focuses on the importance of upholding the basic and constitutional rights of inmates while the one authored by Matugas seeks to transfer the supervision and control over all provincial jails from the provincial government to the BJMP. — Kristine B. Quintas with Diana Rose Ompad and Dulcelyn Insong (FREEMAN)