P30-M facility to resolve DAPECOL’s congestion

The Davao Penal Colony (Dapecol) in Panabo, Davao del Norte may now resolve the problem of congestion of inmates with the allocation of P30 million for the construction of new dormitories.
Dapecol superintendent, Venjo Tesoro bared this yesterday at the Kapehan sa Dabaw in SM Annex that five dormitories will be constructed amounting to P6 million each which will increase the holding capacity of Dapecol to up to 10,000 inmates.
“Today, our facility caters to only 4,000 prisoners but we have a total of 6,000 prisoners as of this time,” Tesoro said.
He added that Dapecol has a total of 5,700 male inmates and 300 female inmates. “With the new facility we won’t suffer congestion again and we can have a lot of space to accommodate inmates coming from Manila,” he explained.
He bared that they already have identified the site and the construction phase will commence on the second quarter of this year. “We will finish the construction on the first quarter of 2014,” he added.
Tesoro said that the fund came from the national government and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is in charge of the construction.
“The additional five dormitories can surely address our congestion problems and we believe that the construction will be finished right before the 1000 prisoners from Manila came,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Tesoro said that there are 800 living out inmates who are currently working in TADECO banana plantation earning P261.00 per day.
“These are the prisoners who will be released in a year’s time. They worked to maintain the banana farm in order to have money when they will be released,” he said. (CMP)