The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR) is now preparing for the adverse effects of the El Niño phenomenon in its jail facilities. 

BJMP-NCR Director Chief Supt. Clint Russel Tangeres maintained that water and power supplies remain the top needed resources in the BJMP-run facilities as the bureau is also on guard against communicable diseases and heat strokes that may inflict the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

With the El Nino threat, Tangeres instructed all the 39 BJMP-NCR jail wardens to coordinate with the local government units (LGUs) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for the much needed resources in their respective facilities.

He noted that water rationing by the fire department has been the best response to prevent heat strokes and dehydration among the PDLs, admitting that summer-related ailments are bound to increase due to extreme heat and overcrowding in the prison cells.

Through a memorandum of agreement (MOA), the BFP has committed to provide water to BJMP facilities in the NCR.

“Kailangan talaga ang tubig para iwas dehydration at yong amoy sa loob (Water is really needed to prevent dehydration and the stink inside),’’ Tangeres said.

The BJMP stated that boil or ‘pigsa’ in local parlance and jail rash (rumbo-rumbo) are still the two most common health concerns in the jails especially during summer.

In 2022, the BJMP-NCR boil reported that cases of boil in its facilities reached 6,647 with 4,011 rumbo-rumbo cases.

However, boil ailment dropped to 5,008 in 2023 but rumbo-rumbo cases rose to 4055 in the same year.

The BJMP-NCR lamented that it is monitoring other skin diseases this summer months like conjunctivitis, contact dermatitis, heat rash (bungang araw), measles (tigdas) and varicella zoster (chicken pox).

With 478 jails under the BJMP, the BJMP-NCR is the most populous among the 17 regions nationwide with more than 30,000 inmates in its 39 jail facilities.

Aside from the health concerns, Tangeres reminded the BJMP-NCR jails wardens to also focus on the security aspects of their respective facilities to prevent the occurrences of riots and jailbreaks.