11 CPDRC prisoners transferred to Bilibid

Eleven insular prisoners at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center have been moved to the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa where they will serve their respective sentences.

CPDRC acting jail warden Alfredo Abella said that the recent shipment of insular prisoners to Muntinlupa has somehow helped decongest the provincial jail facility, which he said, is operating almost beyond its capacity.

Abella said that the transfer of the 11 prisoners to Muntinlupa has reduced the number of insular prisoners or inmates convicted for grave offenses at the CPDRC to 23. He added that another 10 insular prisoners are expected to be moved to Muntinlupa next month.

Among the prisoners moved to Muntinlupa was a 71-year-old man from Bogo who was convicted of rape. The prisoners, who had iron chains on their legs, left Cebu last Friday on board a Sulpicio Lines vessel. The provincial government spent more than P1,000 for the fare of the inmates.

The state-of-the-art jail facility of the province in barangay Kalunasan has a capacity of 1,608 inmates. At present, there are already 1,534 prisoners. Some of these, however, are not supposed to be at the CPDRC and are only there because of the security facilities.

One of these inmates is Calvin de Jesus Tan, the alleged financier of the shabu laboratory in Mandaue City, who is currently held at the maximum security cell, which has laser beams and surveillance cameras to monitor his activity. - Fred P. Languido