By:
Dexter Cabalza / 03:03 AM June 09, 2017
A human rights group
has criticized Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) officials for
their failure to restore electricity at the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ)
in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
On Tuesday night, a
noise barrage staged by the inmates to protest the power outage led to a brawl
among rival groups, leaving two detainees dead and 17 others injured.
Electricity to the jail
which houses high-value and high-risk inmates, including Abu Sayyaf members,
political detainees and big-time drug suspects, has been cut since May 30 after
the lone power transformer broke down.
“Severely affected were the inmates who were
suffering from extreme heat due to lack of electricity. Making it worse were
the overcrowding and tragic situation inside cells,” the human rights watchdog
Karapatan said in a statement.
“They said it [power
outage] would be indefinite,” Senior Insp. Fronstone Dang-iw, public
information officer of BJMP-National Capital Region, said on Thursday.
According to him, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has not said when power would
be restored to the facility.
All the facilities at
MMDJ, including the Special Intensive Care Area 1 (Sica 1), are now powered by
generators, Dang-iw told the Inquirer.
BJMP spokesperson Chief
Insp. Xavier Solda, meanwhile, said that Meralco had vowed to complete repairs
after 14 hours.
“We expect it to be
finished by nighttime tomorrow (Friday),” Solda added. According to him, the
repair of the transformer will cost P381,000.
At the same time, he
denied reports that power was cut because the MMDJ owes Meralco P5 million in
outstanding electric bills.
“We have checked [with]
accounting and there are no unpaid bills. We will only be paying the cost of
repairing the transformer,” Solda said.
The BJMP identified the
fatalities as Lucky Natividad of “Bahala Na Gang” and Gerald Tolentino of
“Sigue-Sigue Sputnik Gang.” Both suffered stab wounds.
Dang-iw said that the
six inmates who sustained serious injuries were returned to their cells on
Thursday after treatment at Taguig-Pateros District Hospital.
“We have segregated the
inmates [by] their affiliation. We have also built secondary gates between them
so riots will be prevented,” he added.
As for the issues
raised by Karapatan, Dang-iw said the BJMP was doing its best to address these.
“We prioritize the
welfare of our inmates because they are our clients. Our job is to keep them
safe,” he told the Inquirer.
Among the high-profile
detainees at the MMDJ are alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles
and expelled Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) member Angel Manalo, estranged brother of
INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, who faces charges of illegal possession
of firearms and ammunition.
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