No more hugs, unli-talk for inmates

CEBU, Philippines - From a hilly village in Compostela town, Fe Compasion yesterday traveled about two hours to visit her husband who is now serving time at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.

Jail officials yesterday restored visitation privileges for the inmates, some three weeks after they were suspended because of alleged irregularities inside the facility.

Compasion's excitement, however, doused upon learning of the new "no contact" policy being implemented at CPDRC. Visitors or "dalaw" like her are not anymore allowed to touch - not even hug or kiss - the inmates and vice versa, and they are now permitted to talk for just 30 minutes, a privilege that used to be previously unlimited.

"Tinuod hasol gyud. Layo kaayo sa tanan ang among gigikanan unya dili man mi magkaistorya og tarong, mubo ra kaayo ang panahon unya dili baya lalim ang back and forth nga pamasahe sa Compostela nga bukiran pa gyud," a visibly upset Compasion told The FREEMAN.

Some inmates themselves found the new jail rules taxing.

Felix Laparan, 32, a native of Pinamungajan town facing drug charges, said it's hard for them to cope with the new system, especially the part where they are barred from physically touching their loved ones.

"Lisod para namo tagsa ra mi maduaw unya gimingaw pa sa among tagtungod unya kadiyot ra gyud kaayo, kana untang makontento gyud ta ba," said Laparan who was visited by his live-in partner yesterday.

Jail officials are aware of these concerns.

Bobby Legaspi, head of the Capitol Civil Security Unit, said they are looking at extending the 30-minute allowance for the visitors but on one condition.

"We are also figuring it out. We're looking into it, if there are no more visitors, we'll extend a little pero there are a lot of visitors today (yesterday), so 30 minutes lang gyud," Legaspi said.

Under the current setup, visitors go through three rounds of inspection, according to Sr. Inspector Zosimo Jabas, team leader of the Provincial Public Safety Company personnel manning the CPDRC.

First inspection is done at the entrance of the jail, followed by two police dogs that will sniff on the stuff being brought in by the visitors, and on to the final stage wherein PPSC personnel and guards will actually check the bags and other items.

As part of the stricter security, CPDRC visitors are also now restricted from accessing other areas inside the facility. A central visitation room with 13 cubicles has been built at the CPRDC where the visiting relatives could talk to the prisoners, separated by layers of screen.

Above the cubicles, a thick glass isolates the inmates from their visiting relatives.

Jabas said only a maximum of two visitors will be accommodated per inmate. "So most priority ang immediate family, wife ug ang iyahang mother," he said.

Jabas also said there are "conjugal rooms" available for inmates and visitors who want to spend time in private, but he stressed that visitors will not be allowed to take anything with them into these quarters.

CPDRC, which is currently manned by 21 PPSC personnel, houses around 3,000 inmates in its 119 detention cells, 110 of which are for male detainees while 9 are for females.

Each cell holds at least 19 to 35 inmates due to congestion issues. This is also the reason why CPDRC officials imposed clustering on visitation for close moni-toring of visitors.

Visiting hours run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

Meanwhile, even as the new visiting rules were met with dismay by some visitors and inmates, some were contented with just being able to see their loved ones.

"Okay ra, wala'y problema basta makita kaysa dili maka-contact, mingaw kaayo," said Jeremy Baguio, an inmate who was visited by his wife and three-year-old son yesterday. (FREEMAN)