A total of 72 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) were released from the Zamboanga City Jail Reformatory Center in January through intensified paralegal support service, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) jail warden Supt. Xavier Solda said on Thursday, Feb. 2.
“We are hoping that more than a hundred more will be released in the next two weeks as we continue our coordination with the courts to decongest our facility which is now 1,064% congested,” Solda said.
Earlier, the BJMP and the local government unit launched the Green Zamboanga Project which aims to establish a jail nursery for vegetable seedlings in the facility as a source of income among PDL on top of other newly created livelihood programs in the facility.
In terms of health support, Solda noted that the facility continuously monitors sickly and malnourished PDL including senior citizens who were enrolled under the Facility Nutritional Support Program.
BJMP chief Director Allan Iral also lauded the Zamboanga City Jail Reformatory Center for its anti-illegal drug campaign and welfare programs for the PDLs.
“We take cognizance of the intensified anti-drug campaign and welfare programs for persons deprived of liberty in our biggest facility in Western Mindanao," Iral said.
“These efforts are important especially in large facilities like Zamboanga City Jail," he added.
Earlier, 338 Zamboanga City-based operatives conducted a surprise inspection dubbed as “OPLAN Linis Piitan’’ in the facility where no 575 illegal and nuisance contrabands but no illegal drugs were seized.