At least 154 foreigners including 25 female Chinese nationals are detained in a cramped jail in Subic since their arrest on Sept. 9, 2016, for operating an illegal online gaming at Don Gwang Building Tower 2, Clark Freeport, Pampanga.
The foreigners could not be transferred to the Bureau of Immigration jail in Bicutan, Taguig, because the jail facility is overcrowded and could only hold 100 detainees.
Their relatives appealed to immigration officials to allow the foreign inmates to post bail or deport them so as not to prolong their sufferings inside the crowded jail.
The BI jail in Taguig was designed to hold 70 prisoners. Former immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan has launched a project to “double bunk” the cells and increase capacity as well as other renovations designed to ease some of the conditions of foreign inmates.
But when the government stepped up the campaign against illegal and overstaying aliens under Commissioner Siegfred Mison, the jail had a “rated capacity” of 100. The jail population reached a high of 200.
As a result of the overcrowding, prisoners sleep on the floor. The overcrowding naturally leads to conflicts among prisoners.
BI official said that there is a plan to construct a building to hold foreign inmates.
The BI official, who asked anonymity as he is not authorized to speak in behalf of the bureau said almost 58 percent of the inmates are being tried for their involvement in illegal drugs. They are being tried in the different court branches,” he said.
Each detainee receives a food budget of P50 per day, the official said.