Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos, Jr. said on Wednesday, Aug. 10, that he will initiate random drug testing in all the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facilities.
And if any of the BJMP personnel or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) would test positive, Abalos warned of serious consequences for jail wardens.
“I will personally go to our jails and I will be conducting surprise drug testing of BJMP personnel and PDLs in those jails,” said Abalos.
“Magpapa-urinalysis ako sa mga jails (I will conduct urinalysis in the jails). So I’m warning each and every BJMP warden and personnel, kapag may nagpositive (on illegal drugs) (if the drug tests prove positive), then it means na may nakapasok na droga sa mga jail facilities natin (that there are illegal drugs in the jail facilities),” he added.
Abalos pointed to what he branded as ‘rumors’ that pointed to some big-time drug lords continuing their illicit activities inside the jail facilities prompting him to wonder how they were able to transact their business while imprisoned.
“We need to cut their communication. They use phones to conduct their drug trade. So we need signal jammers to stop their communication outside,” Abalos noted.
In addition to random drug testing, Abalos also wants the PDLs to undergo medical screening and physical exams prior to their admission in the BJMP-run jails.
“Kung pwede tayong magconduct ng test para sa TB (tuberculosis), test para sa HIV at hepatitis para sa PDLs, mas mainam kapag magawa natin ito. After all, at risk ang greater population sa loob ng mga jails kung may infected na individual (If we are able to conduct tests for TB, HIV and hepatitis for the PDLs it is much better if we can do this. After all, the greater population in the jails are at great risk if there is an infected individual,’’ Abalos explained.
As of June 30, 2022, records show that the BJMP houses a total of 131,193 PDLs in 477 jails nationwide translating to 387 percent congestion rate with 337 jails congested.
Abalos said that the spread of infection is faster in the congested jail facilities stressing that the country now has to deal with monkeypox.
“So what I want is for us to come up with a memorandum circular on the prevention and response of the BJMP in relation to monkeypox,” Abalos pointed out.
Given the problem of the congested jails, Abalos said that there are only 18,696 BJMP jail personnel guarding more than 131,000 PDLs prompting him to tell its officials to think ‘out of the box in coming up with solutions.’
He suggested that the BJMP in this kind of circumstances might if possible enter a deal with the local government units (LGUs) for a usufruct.
The DILG explained that usufruct is a legal right accorded to a person or party for the temporary right to use and earn income or profit from the owner’s property. (Chito A. Chavez)