Jail congestion feared as MCJ selects admission of inmates

A recent memorandum prohibiting the transfer of detainees to Manila City Jail without a commitment order from the court caused an uproar among the jail wardens of the police stations in the city, fearing such order would cause congestion in their respective detention cells.

According to the concerned wardens, the Nov. 22 memorandum of Manila City Jail warden Superintendent Magumnang Dipantar compelled them to secure first a commitment order before a detainee can be accepted.

A judge issues a commitment order only when the detainee’s case is already being tried by the court.

With the said memorandum, an offender would have to stay at least two weeks at the detention cell while awaiting his case to be raffled.

"This is ridiculous. Our detention cells would be filled with detainees if we follow the memorandum," lamented Inspector Juanito Dizon, warden of the Western Police District (WPD) Integrated Jail.

According to Dizon, it was standard operating procedure for them to transfer a detainee to the city jail after he was charged with a crime by an inquest fiscal.

An information sheet or a referral containing the prosecutor’s recommendation and the nature of the crime normally suffices for a detainee to be accepted at the city jail. Thus, according to Dizon, the offender is usually detained in jail while undergoing trial.

"A commitment order from the court usually takes at least two weeks to acquire, notwithstanding some impediments associated with it," Dizon argued, explaining that the police detention cell is only a temporary detention for inmates.

At present, Dizon said the WPD Integrated Jail’s population has swelled to 53 inmates because of the new order. The WPD jail can only accommodate at least 40 inmates. "And their number is increasing everyday," he rued.

Dizon said that last Thursday, Manila City Jail officials refused to accept three female offenders though their incarceration is covered by a referral from an inquest fiscal.

"The jail officials are asking instead for a commitment order from the court. We have no recourse but to return the women to our detention," Dizon said.

Dizon said that because there is no food allowance for their detainees, the food ration of his policemen is sometimes shared with the inmates.

At the same time, homicide investigator SPO1 Virgo Villareal also lashed out at the order. He commented that the acquisition of a commitment order is an additional burden.

"Securing a commitment order adds another burden to us. Now we not only have to bring an offender to an inquest fiscal, but to also make a follow up on his commitment order," Villareal said.

Manila City Jail warden Dipantar, however, clarified that the oppositors only misinterpret his memorandum.

"We continue to accept inmates even without a commitment order from the court, which is only one of the documents needed for his detention," explained Dipantar. He said the police wardens only overeacted to his memorandum.– Nestor Etolle