DAGUPAN Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez has thrown in her support to the suggestion of CityAdministrator Alvin Fernandez that the district jail in Bonuan, which has been polluting the Lingayen Gulf, be moved out of the city.

Abandoning an earlier idea to build an extension facility for the over-crowded jail, the vice mayor, who also chairs the Sanguniang Panlungsod, said the city council is now studying the new proposal and awaiting endorsement from Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr.

“If you remember, there was a request for us to endorse the construction of the extension of the jail. But it appears that majority of the councilors are cool to such request because they know it will not ease the pollution of the Lingayen Gulf from the jail’s waste water,” Vice Mayor Fernandez said.

Fernandez also noted that residents near the jail, affected by the obnoxious odor of the beach water due to the waste coming from the jail’s septic tank, have expressed opposition to the proposed extension and was ready to hold rallies had the SP approved the request.

That time, City Tourism Officer Michelle Lioanag reported to the council and insisted that she did not notice any repugnant smell when she visited the back of the jail. This raised the ire of Councilor Jesus Canto.

Fernandez also pointed out that the jail, built by Dagupan City in the mid 1990s, was designed to serve as a city jail.

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which later on took over the management of the facility, turned it into a district jail without informing the city government.

The jail, which has a capacity for only 100 inmates, currently holds more than 400.

Peeved by reports that pollution of the Lingayen Gulf is continuing without let-up due to waste water from the jail, City Administrator Fernandez earlier told The PUNCH that he is now in favor of having the jail relocated somewhere else.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Leduina Co has confirmed that waste water from the jail’s septic tank is still continuously flowing to the sea.

Co also said the construction of a new septic tank, using the P250,000 from the Department of Health through Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, will just be a temporary solution as the main problem is the over-population in the facility.

Co confirmed that based on a laboratory analysis, the water behind the jail was found to be high in coliform, thus not fit for swimming as well as fishing and agriculture activities.-LM

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