THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Dagupan City has responded to resident concerns on Paras Street in Barangay Bonuan Gueset regarding allegations of an overflowing septic tank. The agency firmly denied that the water emanating from its facility is linked to the septic system.

In an interview with IFM News Dagupan, Jail Superintendent Lito Lam-Osen explained that residents may have misconstrued water from the jail as originating from a septic tank. He clarified that the water is actually from bathrooms where Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) shower and launder their clothes.

“It’s likely that residents are reacting to the unpleasant odors from garbage they dispose of at night, rather than from any effluent from the jail,” Lam-Osen stated.

Concerns were raised by a Paras Street resident in the People on People section of The Sunday Punch, urging Barangay Captain Noel Bumanglag to investigate the suspected waste discharge from the BJMP. This resident and neighbors believe the source is the jail’s septic tanks, which they allege drain into the barangay drainage canal during the night.

The BJMP acknowledged that its drainage system is connected to the barangay canal, facilitating water flow within the compound.

The BJMP assured the community that the volume of water from the PDLs’ bathrooms flowing into the barangay’s drainage system would significantly decrease once several PDLs from San Fabian are relocated to a new jail currently under construction in San Fabian.

While Barangay Captain Bumanglag has yet to take action on the residents’ complaints, the Sangguniang Panlungsod has tasked the City Health Office’s sanitation unit to investigate water discharge from the BJMP and the City Engineering Office to assess the condition of the jail’s septic tanks. (Leonardo Micua with report from Joana de Vera of IFM Dagupan)