The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) announced Sunday, Oct. 30, the construction of the Malaybalay City Jail Reformatory Center in Bukidnon which is the first among the three jail-based drug reformation centers built under the ‘Kanlungan sa Piitan (Shelter in the Jail Facility)’ Project.
A program of the BJMP and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the Malaybalay City Jail-Annex Kanlungan sa Piitan was completed on March 12, 2021 but the perimeter fence was finished only this year leading to its inauguration on Oct. 29.
BJMP chief Jail Director Allan Iral hailed the DDB for its overwhelming support to the bureau’s anti-drug reform programs particularly the provision of funding for the reformation center.
“Taus-puso po ang aming pasasalamat sa Dangerous Drugs Board sa pangunguna ni Secretary Catalino Cuy para sa proyektong ito (Our heartfelt thanks to the Dangerous Drugs Board led by Secretary Catalino Cuy for this project). This will answer major concerns of the BJMP, especially in providing specialized care to the drug-affected sector of the PDL population,” Iral stated.
“We will continue to work hard in preventing as well as purging illegal substances in our jails,” he added.
On Dec. 17, 2019, the BJMP and the DDB entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the establishment of drug rehabilitation facilities in the BJMP jails and providing funds to its realization.
The DDB then issued Regulation No. 8 on Nov. 8, 2021, authorizing the BJMP to operate jail-based drug reformation centers.
The facility has a 60-bed capacity of 60 that will cater to inmates secured in the BJMP facilities in Region X and other nearby regions subject to the discretion of the courts with the BJMP MultiPurpose Cooperative providing the equipment and fixtures of the facility from its Community Development Fund.
Trained jail personnel
All 35 personnel assigned in the Malaybalay City Jail Reformatory Center had completed the mandatory pre-service training such as the Therapeutic Community Modality Program and other related seminars and workshops to ensure that they have the proper competencies in drug rehabilitation work.
Based on the data of the BJMP Directorate for Operations, a total of 90,062 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) or 68.59 percent of its total 131,311 population in the 477 BJMP facilities are facing drug-related charges.
The ‘Kanlungan sa Piitan’ will cater to the PDLs ordered by the courts to undergo six months of drug rehabilitation as penalty under Section 15, Article II of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9165 and under the plea-bargaining framework in drug cases covered by A.M. No. 18-03-16-SC issued by the Supreme Court on Aug. 10, 2018.
“Through Kanlungan sa Piitan, we are hitting two birds with one stone. We are providing means of treatment as early as now, while they are in detention,” Iral explained.
“We want to make the most of their time with us. So that when they join their families and communities, they are changed persons,” he added.
Aside from the Malaybalay City Jail Reformatory Center, two other BJMP reformatory centers are on the rise, one is in Argao, Cebu with an 82 percent completion rate as of Dec. 12, 2021 and the other one will be built in San Pablo, Laguna.
“Alinsunod sa direktiba ni DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr., tuloy tuloy po ang aming kampanya laban sa ilegal na droga at mas lalo pang palalawakin ang mga programang pangrehabilitasyon gaya ng reformatory centers na aming ipinatatayo (Based on the directive of DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., our campaign against illegal drugs will continue with the rehabilitation programs like the reformatory centers that we built being further enhanced),’’ Iral continued. (Chito A. Chavez)