CEBU, Philippines — Authorities at the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory have revealed that there are Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) in the facility who have tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Jail Officer 3 Blanche Aliño, spokesperson for the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory, said that more than 10 PDLs are said to have HIV, but she said that this is not alarming and that the cases are not increasing because those PDLs who have HIV got the disease outside.
Aliño said it was only found out that they have the disease when they were brought to the city jail and subjected to testing.
“But we do not discount that possibility (nga naay natakdan sa sulod sa city jail),” said Aliño
Aliño said that they are supported by the Department of Health Central Visayas as well as the City Social Hygiene Clinic in Cebu City.
These offices continue to send representatives to the jail facility to conduct educational awareness as well as the testing of PDLs every Friday with the help of the jail nurses at the facility's clinic.
"Ang atoang mga PDL nga naa ani nga sakit gihatagan sila og insakto nga treatment sa atoang facility as well as sa Department of Health," said Aliño.
Aliño clarified that PDLs who have HIV cannot be singled out because it can be called discrimination while revealing that PDLs have been educated and oriented about HIV, especially the reason why an individual has HIV.
"Kani sila aware naman sila so they undergo a very thorough medication as well as supervision, monitoring and treatment," she said.
Not Involved?
Meanwhile, Aliño said no jail officers are involved in smuggling contrabands into the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory as alleged by one of the former PDLs.
The allegation went that "BJMP personnel" were involved in such shady activities, including the sneaking in of cellphones.
But Aliño said that the result of an investigation conducted by their Intelligence Unit and Investigation Office proved negative.
Aliño said that all the personnel of the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory were under investigation to clarify if any of them were involved and to give them a chance to clear their names.
Aliño said that it is not new that the name of the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory is associated with those arrested, especially for illegal drugs, but the jail officer pointed out that their office is open for coordination with other law enforcement units such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-7 and Philippine National Police (PNP) to find out if such allegations are true.
Following this development, they have closed the investigation regarding the allegation but Aliño stressed that this does not mean that they will not continue to check on their people, especially when entering the facility.
"Padayon ta nga naay thorough check-up, kung kami mosulod sa among facility upon our entry we are being searched as much as giunsa pag-search ang atong dalaw mao sad mi, so that includes our vehicle and hopefully mahimo ni siyang end sa mga hungihong ug mga issue batok namo, especially sa among mg personnel," said Aliño.
According to Aliño, if jail officers are caught involved in irregularities, they can be removed from service or suspended.
Currently, the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory has 6,100 PDLs. It only has a capacity of over 2,000. – Decemay P. Padilla, JMD (FREEMAN)