THE serious congestion of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Dagupan was chiefly brought about by the big number of persons being arrested by the police and detained for violation of illegal drugs.

J/Supt. Kenneth Bid-ing, jail warden of the BJMP district jail in Dagupan City confirmed that from 80 to 90 percent of the more than 1,000 detainees locked up at the (BJMP) facility are facing cases for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the anti-drugs law.

This means that only about 10 percent of those being detained were for other crimes like murder, homicide, theft and others.

Bid-ing told the KBP Forum on Thursday that the same situation also exists in other BJMP facilities in other parts of the province and in the country since the drug problem is widespread.

The other BJMP district jails in Pangasinan are in Urdaneta City, Balungao, San Carlos City as well as Burgos and at the Provincial Jail in Lingayen.

The detainees at BJMP Dagupan are awaiting disposition of their cases filed in various courts and once convicted will be brought to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa.

Noting the serious congestion of the BJMP district jail in Dagupan, Bid-ing said he has already written mayors of towns where the inmates came from, for them to build their own jails.

The only way to decongest the BJMP jail in Dagupan is for the LGUs in Mangaldan, San Fabian, San Jacinto, Calasiao and Sta. Barbara to put up their own jails.

The Dagupan jail which has facilities for only 100 inmates has grown into a district jail and is now keeping more than 1,000 detainees or 10 times bigger than its actual capacity.

The BJMP is constructing an extension building that will accommodate a few inmates to help ease congestion but it is not enough considering the big number of detainees being brought in regularly.

At the same time, Bid-ing said the problem of the jail’s overflowing septic tank was already addressed when they built a new septic tank in front of the BJMP.

The wastewater from the overflowing septic tank was protested by residents near the facility as it was emitting foul odor and polluting the sea.

Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries and Technology Development Center (NIFTDC), lauded the BJMP for addressing the issue as the wastes coming from the jail was seriously affecting the Lingayen Gulf.

Bid-ing also vowed to write the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to allow the BJMP to expand to the premises of the Area Vocational Rehabilitation Center (AVRC), which it will soon vacate.

He said the area which is more than 7,000 square meters that will be vacated by AVRC can accommodate a detention cell for women as they intend to eventually separate them from the men.

When asked if he approved of a proposal to restore the revival of death penalty in the country particularly for persons convicted for drug cases, Bid-ing, a lawyer, said the punishment must be graduated.

“Ang drugs kase maraming kaso: possession, selling, use, possession of drugparaphernalia. Hindi naman siguro karapat-dapat na pare-parehas ang punishment sa mga ‘yan,” remarked Bid-Ing who has been working at the BJMP for 18 years now.

Death penalty should be imposed only on those involved in the selling and manufacturing since these people, he said, are destroying many lives.

Meanwhile, Bid-Ing said livelihood, educational, religious, and sports programs are continuous to provide productive diversion for the inmates while their respective cases are being heard.

Livelihood activities include food processing, basket making, and candle making, among others. (Leonardo Micua/Johanne R. Macob)

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