By Anthony Giron
IMUS, Cavite – Another inmate at the police jail of this capital city died early Tuesday morning in a hospital due to illness, a top officer confirmed.
Supt. Jose Junar P. Alamo, Imus police officer-in-charge, reported that Nesty Atanacio Advincula, 43, was the fourth detainee to die in the custodial facility in less than three weeks.
Advincula, who was detained for an illegal drug charge, died at 1:57 a.m. Tuesday at the Ospital ng Imus where he was brought by jail officer Teddy de los Santos and a city medical team after he complained of breathing difficulty and chest pain.
Alamo said he presumed that Advincula had succumbed to heart failure, just like the three other inmates who died earlier.
The two other fatalities were reported during the Christmas season while the third only last Friday.
Poor ventilation and deplorable jail conditions are being blamed for the deaths of the four detainees.
In an interview, Alamo said there are about 200 inmates in the male detention facility that was built to accommodate only between 60 to 80 people.
The facility on the ground floor of the station relies only on exhaust fans to circulate air.
"Many of them are detained for illegal drug charges with no bail," Alamo said as he showed the conditions in the jail through a surveillance camera monitor.
The inmates, many of them shirtless, were either seated or lying on the floor because they have no space to walk around.
Alamo said he had reported the jail condition to the city health office and other concerned officials.
The Cavite Police Provincial Office (PPO) said at least 12 detainees from police jails in neighboring Imus, Bacoor and Dasmariñas have died in hospitals since last Christmas Day.
Reports showed there were scores of ailing detainees from the city and municipal jails who died in hospitals from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 last year. Those who died were mostly detained on charges of illegal drugs.
The detainees at the Cavite police jails are waiting for the trial of their cases to end.
Tens of ailing inmates, some with skin diseases, are left languishing in jails. Cavite province has seven cities and 16 municipalities with each area having a police custodial facility.
Just in the fourth quarter of last year, there were about 16 deaths reported in the province's police jails.
The Dasmariñas City jail reportedly had the most number of inmate deaths in 2018, the reports showed.