The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology has expressed confidence that a new regional jail facility will be established in Calinan district in 2018, spacious enough to house 5,000 inmates.
BJMPRO XI Spokesperson Jlnsp Edo Lobenia said that the new facility will resolve the adverse impact on the inmates’ health and wellness at the current facility in Barangay Maa.
He said the facilities will be spacious to enable the implementation of programs for the benefit of inmates.
“We are looking forward to a facility that is conducive enough for true rehabilitation, providing enough space ample enough for sports rehabilitation, as well as areas where in inmates’ skills are accommodated as in workshops and classrooms,” Lobenia said.
Lobenia said that the new jail facility is still going on in the process of bidding for the said project.
He said the facility will be built on an eight-hectare property that businesswoman Lowella Garcia donated to the agency.
“Ms. Garcia is known for her sustainable organic farming which she is very much willing to share for the benefit of our inmates,” Lobenia said.
Serrafin P. Barreto Jr., BJMP director has visited the area where the new facility will be set up. He also signed the deed of donation and inspected the site on November 15.
The agency will set aside three hectares for the building, while the remainder will be turned into an organic farm as well as an industrial zone where detainees can work.
He said the completion of the facility will help decongest the other jails which have been overcrowded following the intensified campaign of the authorities against illegal drugs after President Rodrigo R. Duterte assumed office.
Based on their data, BJMP 11 has recorded a total congestion rate of 599percent. From its ideal capacity of 1049 inmates, with the number of 6,913 inmates in Davao City jail.
“The jail facility in Ma-a will remain and will become the Davao City Jail Annex,” she said. “It will house the female detainees, high-risk, high-profile and senior citizen inmates.” He said.
Lobenia said that part of the Ma-a jail facility will be converted into two holding centers where inmates will be housed a day before the trial of their cases so they will not be late.
He said that the new jail facility will use solar power for its electricity and tap rain water for uses other than drinking.
“We wanted to ease the situation here so aside from the implementation of inmates’ welfare and development programs, we wanted also to provide the inmates enough space the best way we can for their health and religious activities”, he added.
