Jail inmates mostly from Ermita

CEBU, Philippines - Most of the detainees in the Cebu City Jail come from Barangay Ermita, particularly Sitio Bato.

This was revealed by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama after he received the statistics at the jail.

Rama believes one reason for this is their living conditions which he describes as “unsuitable” and may lead them to explore illegal means of livelihood.

Most of the inmates are in jail for drug trafficking, drug pushing and robbery.

However, Ermita Barangay Captain Antonieto Flores said in an interview with The FREEMAN that the area mentioned by Rama is not really an area where bad elements thrive.

Sitio Bato, located behind the Carbon Public market, is home to many vendors trying to make a decent living, according to Flores.

Flores also said that drug usage is not the biggest problem in that sitio but land ownership.

Policemen assigned to the Carbon police station Markets say it is true that they have arrested a lot of drug users and suspected robbers in the area for the past years.

They also said some of them were minors they immediately turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Barangay Ermita is one of the 13 barangays in the city categorized by the Cebu City Police Office as a drug influenced barangay with more than 30 percent of their population engage in drug trafficking.

In drug infiltrated barangays more than 50 percent of the population is engaged in drug-trafficking while in drug threatened barangays there are only minimal cases.

Police records show that the barangays of Kamagayan, Mambaling, Lorega, T. Padilla, Kamputhaw, Ermita, Suba, Abuno Pasil, Sawang Calero, Calamba and Duljo-Fatima are the most drug influenced barangays in the city.

However, it was also proven that there is less shabu in the streets now compared to previous years.  A deck of shabu is now worth P300 to P400 from just P100. (THE FREEMAN)