TO DECONGEST JAILS: DILG pushes for hiring of more judges, prosecutors

Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary for Public Safety Marius Corpus recommended the hiring of more judges and prosecutors for the speedy disposition of cases that would decongest jails in the country.

In his speech during the two-day forum on Increasing Access to Justice for the Poor, Corpus cited an independent report by the International Committee of the Red Cross that points to the slow disposition of criminal cases as a major cause of jail congestion.

“For every one inmate released from detention, two new ones are committed by order of the Courts, at this rate, even the newly constructed jails will soon be congested,” Corpus said.

The agency’s recommendation, Corpus said, is answering an issue that cuts across the basic sector and mainly affects the poor, which most of the inmates in the city and municipal jails belong.

Corpus said records from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) consistently showed an ever increasing jail population in city and municipal jails, especially in the urban centers.

In the National Capital Region alone, the average rate of congestion is 259 percent with Quezon City and Caloocan City Jail recording the highest rate at 1200 percent.

Here in the Visayas and outside the NCR, Corpus said the average rate of congestion is 240.9 percent.

Recently, the Commission on Audit, on its annual audit report observed that the jails in Cebu are among the most congested in the country.

To address the problem of congestion, Corpus said the DILG and BJMP took measures including the construction of new jails.

“Just recently BJMP completed the construction of new jails in Cebu City, Calamba and Taguig Cities from the P100 million fund of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO),” he said.

DILG and BJMP also pushed for the passage of various jail decongestion bills by Congress such as those prescribing community services as penalty for light offenses.

Another bill they support is the provision of a more liberal utilization of release on recognizance also for light offenses.

The recent forum was part of the implementation of judicial reform particularly on the issue of access to justice by the marginalized sector. — Ferliza C. Contratista/WAB