At Cebu City jail: No more ‘conjugal rooms,’ incentive for prison guards

CEBU, Philippines - No less than inmates of the Cebu City Jail demolished the 36 makeshift rooms inside the facility that served as "conjugal rooms," which were reportedly used eventually as exclusive quarters of detained alleged bigtime drug pushers.

The new city jail warden, Jessie Calumpang, said they demolished the rooms to create a "fair environment" for all inmates. Also, this would prevent the rooms from being used to hide possible contraband that may enter the jail.

The 'conjugal rooms' were used to accommodate couples each time the partner visits an inmate.

"Ang mga rooms man gud diri mura na og balay sa mga inmates… naa nay TV and electric fans, which is unfair sa ubang inmates," Calumpang told reporters.

The area where the makeshift rooms used to stand will now be used as a visitors lounge.

Currently, the city jail houses a total of 3,102 inmates, way beyond its capacity of only 600.

Calumpang said he would implement measures to control the population inside, as well as the volume of visitors. These would include segregating high-profile inmates for easy monitoring and modifying the visiting schedule.

Calumpang said visitation may be done by batches. The first visiting day will be for inmates in the main building and the second day for the inmates in the other building.

At present, the jail accommodates visitors on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The demolition came a day after Calumpang assumed as new jail warden. He replaced Supt. Johnson Calub who was relieved following the raid at the jail that yielded more than P240, 000 worth of shabu and P4.6 million cash.

Operatives also found high-value belongings in some of the makeshift rooms.

The operation was carried out by the Police Regional Office-7, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency -7, Special Weapons and Tactics, Regional Public Safety Battalion-7, and the Philippine Coast Guard's K9 Unit.

Following the result of the operation, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will cancel the incentive allowance the city gives to Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) assigned at the city jail.

"I'm going to cancel the allowances of the BJMP…as soon as possible. I will issue the order," he said.

Under this year's annual budget, the city allocated P7.58 million for 158 BJMP workers in the male dormitory at P4,000 per month; P1.1 million for 23 BJMP personnel in the female dorm, also at P4,000 per month; and P198,000 for three liaison officers.

"What we are providing with the BJMP is an incentive allowance. So, klaro kaayo nga incentive. So, the money of the people in Cebu City is not serving its purpose because of what transpired," Osmeña said.

"I'm compelled to withhold because it does not produce the desired effect which is to give an incentive," he added.

Osmeña said the people's money is being "wasted" because the incentive is supposed to entice the BJMP workers to perform well.

The mayor contended that he refused to believe that the jail personnel are unaware of the contrabands inside the facility.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella earlier requested the mayor to reconvene the city's Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC) that he used to head.

Osmeña said the executive department is now in the process of reconvening the council but this time around, he will sit as chairman. (FREEMAN)