CV posts most deaths in jails since January

CEBU, Philippines - The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas posted the most number of deaths among inmates for the past nine months.

Senior Jail Officer 2 Roselle Escaño said 60 inmates have died from January to September this year “due to heart attack, hypertension and tuberculosis.”

BJMP records show that two inmates died in January, six died each in March and April, four died in May, eight died in July, 14 died in August, and 20 died in September. 

With BJMP celebrating the National Correctional Consciousness  Week this week, Escaño said they can only hope that local government units can support the jails financially. The agency is also asking for support from pharmaceutical companies for the medicines of inmates.

BJMP only has a meager P5 for medicine and P50 for food (inclusive of LPG, firewood and cook fee) for each inmate per day.

“We hope nga mu-support sila especially for medicines. Before, ang budget per inmate was P3 per day and this was increased to P5 per day pero gamay ra gyud ni gihapon,” Escaño said.

Most of the 9,000 inmates under in Region 7 have been found to be suffering from upper respiratory tract infection, hypertension, headache, allergic rhinitis and arthritis.

Another problem, aside from budget for medicine and food, is that no doctor is assigned per jail. /JMO (FREEMAN)