CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna—Thirty inmates have died in the congested jails of the Calabarzon region from January to May 16, 2017, or an average of six persons a month, regional police records revealed.
Calabarzon police records showed the deceased inmates suffered from high blood pressure and respiratory diseases owing to the overcrowded conditions in the jails.
About 20 of the inmates died in jails in Cavite, while 10 were in Laguna, police added.
In addition, 556 inmates regionwide are sick—377 from Cavite, 150 from Rizal, 23 fron Laguna, and three each from Batangas and Quezon, records also showed.
Calabarzon Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Ma O Aplasca recently met with the judges and fiscals in the region to find a solution to jail overcrowding, appealing to them to speed up the issuance of commitment orders to decongest the jails.
Police records show there are 4,958 drug users and pushers jailed in 240 lock-up cells across the region, whose total capacity is for 3,371 inmates only.
The judges and fiscals reportedly told Aplasca that as much as they would want to, they cannot just issue the orders as the provincial jails across Calabarzon are also beyond capacity.
In an earlier statement, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Regional Director Serafin Barreto said that as of April, there are 135,052 inmates in 466 BJMP jails nationwide, or a congestion rate of 558 percent.
In some jails, the rate is worse, like in Biñan City Jail, which has 602 inmates in lock-up cells that have a holding capacity of only 22, or a congestion rate of 2,635 percent.
The same condition is noted in the Cabuyao City Jail with 2,516 percent over capacity, Imus City Jail with 2,215 percent, and Santa Rosa City Jail with 2,212 percent.
Aplasca also appealed to the local government units in Calabarzon, particularly those that are chartered cities, to appropriate funds for the construction of additional jails.
