Negros Oriental inmates take Civil Service exams

CEBU, Philippines – Inmates and detainees in different jails in the province of Negros Oriental were allowed to take the Civil Service exams last Sunday at the Negros Oriental State University, the venue for this year’s tests.

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology provincial administrator, Chief Inspector Rosalina Malahay said 28 detainees from city, municipal and district jails in the province took the Career Service Examination paper and pencil tests.

The condition, however, was that they can only be conferred the eligibility (if they hurdle the exams), depending on the outcome of their pending cases: If found guilty, their eligibility shall be forefeited.

According to Malahay, allowing detainees to take the CSC exams was a project of BJMP-7 director, Chief Superintendent Serafin Barreto, who directed her to coordinate with the CSC-7 director Karin Litz Zerna.

Malahay said it was the first time in the province to let inmates take the CSC exams, including two BJMP personnel who have no eligibility yet.

The CSC examinees, who come from the different detention cells from Basay town to Canlaon City, are mostly facing charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Drugs Law of 2002.

An examinee from the Tayasan municipal jail said he was happy the government did not disregard the inmates and allowed him to take the exams, even if he is facing drug charges in court.

Frances Paculares, a third year engineering student, also took the chances of taking the exams with high hopes that when he is out of jail, he can still work in government.

Malahay told the inmates and detainees, life must go on even if they are inside the jails. The BJMP in Dumaguete has 373 detainees, 83 of them females, and that 85 percent of the total number are now facing drug-related cases. (FREEMAN)