All the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and jail personnel of 476 district, city and municipal jails in the country remain free from the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said on Monday, Jan. 3.
With this record remaining intact since Dec. 8, 2021, BJMP chief Jail Director Allan Iral urged all his men “to be proactive and continue the strict implementation of health protocols to ensure the health and wellness of PDL.’’
“Whether the number goes up or down, we are firm with our position not to compromise the safety and security of our jails”, Iral said.
“It is our duty to ensure that all PDL are protected from the virus”, he added.
Through its National COVID-19 Task Force, the BJMP continues to monitor the implementation of health and safety protocols in jails.
Recently, some BJMP facilities started the piloting of no contact visitation to accommodate qualified families of PDL.
To avail of the no contact visitation, Iral noted that the visiting families of the PDLs must be fully vaccinated and residents of areas under alert levels 1 and 2.
On Vaccination
Iral emphasized that the BJMP is continuously exerting all efforts and trying to cover all bases to ensure that all the PDLs under its care will be vaccinated against the virus.
As of January 1, a total of 122,092 PDLs or 97.63 percent out of the 125,061 jail population already had received the COVID-19 jabs.
Of the 122,092 inoculated PDLs, 20,013 had gotten their initial doses, 94, 888 were injected with the second doses with 7,191 others being administered the single dose vaccines.
Iral added that 762 PDLs had already received their booster shot against COVID-19. (Chito A. Chavez)