The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP stressed Friday, Dec. 24, that the organization will relentlessly pursue its goal of ensuring persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and their personnel are drug-free.

BJMP spokesperson Superintendent Xavier Solda said this in support to President Duterte’s all-out war against illegal drugs which was launched in 2016. Duterte's term will end in 2022.
As a testament to the BJMP’s stand, Solda noted that the bureau remains an active participant in the inter-agency work force geared towards the country’s fight against illegal drugs.
Admitting the correlation of the congested jails with the illegal drug use in its facilities, Solda stated that the BJMP has initiated welfare and development programs to prevent the illegal drug trade in its jail facilities.
Further, Solda revealed that the BJMP has enhanced its paralegal support to facilitate the release of the PDLs and address the worsening congestion rate in its jail facilities.
The BJMP spokesperson added that state actors from law enforcement, judiciary and the local government units (LGUs) have regularly convened to renew their commitments and re-target priority efforts against illegal drugs.
Earlier, Solda cited all efforts provided by the government to decongest the jails particularly with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) still dangerously lurking in the country.
“It’s just that our mandate is for the safe keeping and development only. We are the agency who’s handling custodial functions,” he said.
“We cannot just release them (inmates) without court orders,” Solda pointed out.
Solda, meanwhile, assured that precautionary measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were being strictly observed inside the BJMP facilities.