Drug suspects already jammed to excess capacity the Bohol District Jail as a result of the daily police operations against illegal drugs in the province.
Just as of last month, the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) recorded 20 anti-illegal drugs operations wherein 19 persons had been arrested.
As of July in the record of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), 43 cases had been filed before the city and provincial prosecutor’s offices and 27 cases filed before the Regional Trial Court wherein 13 of the suspects have been detained and five posted bail.
Provincial Jail Warden Jose Rosevyle Abueva said majority of the detainees at the Bohol District Jail are facing drug charges.
Those facing murder and homicide charges rank next to those facing drug cases.
At the city jail, majority of the inmates are facing theft and robbery charges, but most of them had been suspected of being linked to drugs.
In fact, the city police has already been alarmed of the incidence of theft and robbery wherein incidents have been reported almost everyday.
Even the jail in Carmen already needs expansion, according to Abueva.
The jail in Carmen had been designed to accommodate 30 to 50 inmates, but the head count now reached more than 100 inmates already, far beyond the maximum capacity.
On this, Abueva proposed that the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) should expand the detention center or construct a new facility that can accommodate the excess inmates as they are now like “sardines†in the current lock-up jail of Carmen.
Abueva said they are now coordinating with the local government unit of Carmen to arrange for a land donation where the BJMP can construct the new facility.
The project needs P5 million to P6 million to be implemented.