CPDRC to beef up security on Christmas, New Year

CEBU, Philippines - Stricter security measures will be implemented at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center on Christmas Eve as well as on the New Year’s Eve because of the traditional family day wherein family members and relatives of inmates are allowed to stay overnight.

It has been a practice in the provincial jail to allow family members to be with the inmates to celebrate Christmas and New Year. They are allowed to stay overnight from December 24 until the early morning of December 25, and back on December 31 until January 1 the next year.

Families and relatives are asked to present their identification cards upon entering the area.

Jail warden Romeo Manansala said the jail management has requested two units of signal jammer, a device used to prevent mobile phones, which are prohibited inside the jail facility, from receiving signals.

“Kung naay ipalusot gani nga cellphone, it would be useless inside kay wa na may signal,” he said.

He added that they have asked additional blue guards from the Capitol as augmentation and will be assigned K-9 dogs. Screening for visitors will be handled primarily by them.

CPDRC is still waiting approval from Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III for the request. Manansala said lack of jail guards has been a concern of the jail facility considering the number of detainees. It currently has 16 blue guards for the three shifts, which is not enough, he added.

CPDRC houses more than 2,000 inmates, way beyond its 1,400 capacity.

 “(We have) diminishing number of jail guards kay mo-retire na ang uban. We requested eight more blue guards,” Manansala told reporters.

Incidents on sneaking in illegal drugs also prompted the jail management to beef up the security in the facility. Last August, shabu packs which were allegedly concealed inside packs of torta were seized from the inmate who came from a court hearing in Argao.

Just on Friday, a package of contraband containing alcohol, illegal and re-gulated drugs was recovered by the jail personnel at the garden of the CPDRC.

Jail consultant Marco Toral said the package thrown over the fence crea-ted a sound when it landed in the yard which alerted guards on duty.

“Mihagtok sa bongbong, mao mitawag ang blue guard pa-back up kay ilang i-roving ang area mao to nakakita sila sa package,” he told reporters.

The guards found six plastic bottles of liquor, six ampoules of nubain, two boxes of hair dye, and three small sachets of crystalline substance believed to be shabu in the package protected with styrofoams to cushion its impact as it lan-ded on the ground.

Along with the package was a message written on a piece of cardboard that says, “Merry X-mas. Pinaskuhan nako.”

Also recovered in the area was a pair of hooks. Manansala believed that the hooks were used to pick the package. He said this practice of throwing contraband into the jail is called “bombing,” which he believed the drug peddlers use to sneak illegal drugs into the jail. The jail officials said they have no know-ledge about the recipients of the contraband but assured to conduct investigation.

Toral said they will be installing closed-circuit television cameras at the area where the “bombing” happened.

“Wa man gud to nabutangan sa gawas sa koral, mao amo tong pabutangan,” he said.

The jail management is also eyeing to establish an outpost in the area next year and implement patrol within the jail perimeter.

Manansala, who has been in service for over 30 years, said the jail had stopped implementing this security scheme due to lack of personnel. (FREEMAN)