Lack of funds move inmates to raise money for themselves
December 16, 2001 | 12:00am
A Caloocan City Jail official said Friday that the lack of government funding forced the jail leaders to solicit funds from newly jailed inmates only through "voluntary" basis.
"We have regular fund from the government but it’s inadequate to sustain the basic needs of the prisoners," the official, who talked on condition of anonymity, said. He added that prison leaders took the initiative to raise the funds for the prisoners themselves by asking voluntary donation from new inmates.
The official said that the inmates’ organization called Samahang Maka-Diyos, headed by prison "mayor" Allan Salcedo, is responsible for the fund-raising activity that is, according to him, fully accounted for by the organization. He added that several poor prisoners, especially those who have no relatives in Metro Manila who could visit them, benefited most from the organization’s project.
"Those who got sick, no bath soap or toothpaste, and even those who already finished their jail term but could not go home for they have no fare, are being helped by the organization," the official added.
He said that nothing is illegal from the inmates’ project for it’s done voluntarily.
His allegations, however, were in stark contrast to the complaints earlier of the relatives of the inmates accusing prison management of allegedly tolerating extortion activities of prison leaders on newly jailed inmates. The complainants claimed that new prisoners are allegedly obliged to pay P750 as admittance fee to jail leaders or would be subjected to bodily harm by fellow inmates.
Aside from the P750 entrance fee, an inmate is also required to have at least one visitor each day or he would also be punished.
A 49-year-old mother, who claimed to be a victim of alleged extortion inside the city jail, said that each visitor is charged P18 per visit or they would not be allowed to see the prisoner.
Senior Inspector Roberto Timbreza, chief of the Caloocan City Jail escort and custodial section, vehemently denied the allegations. He also denied that VIP treatment exist within the jail but said that several moneyed inmates used to pay their fellow prisoners to do some prison works for them.
The Caloocan City Jail, designed to accommodate at least 400 inmates now has a total of 1,246 prisoners, is headed by Chief Inspector Teofelo Labating. – Pete Laude
"We have regular fund from the government but it’s inadequate to sustain the basic needs of the prisoners," the official, who talked on condition of anonymity, said. He added that prison leaders took the initiative to raise the funds for the prisoners themselves by asking voluntary donation from new inmates.
The official said that the inmates’ organization called Samahang Maka-Diyos, headed by prison "mayor" Allan Salcedo, is responsible for the fund-raising activity that is, according to him, fully accounted for by the organization. He added that several poor prisoners, especially those who have no relatives in Metro Manila who could visit them, benefited most from the organization’s project.
"Those who got sick, no bath soap or toothpaste, and even those who already finished their jail term but could not go home for they have no fare, are being helped by the organization," the official added.
He said that nothing is illegal from the inmates’ project for it’s done voluntarily.
His allegations, however, were in stark contrast to the complaints earlier of the relatives of the inmates accusing prison management of allegedly tolerating extortion activities of prison leaders on newly jailed inmates. The complainants claimed that new prisoners are allegedly obliged to pay P750 as admittance fee to jail leaders or would be subjected to bodily harm by fellow inmates.
Aside from the P750 entrance fee, an inmate is also required to have at least one visitor each day or he would also be punished.
A 49-year-old mother, who claimed to be a victim of alleged extortion inside the city jail, said that each visitor is charged P18 per visit or they would not be allowed to see the prisoner.
Senior Inspector Roberto Timbreza, chief of the Caloocan City Jail escort and custodial section, vehemently denied the allegations. He also denied that VIP treatment exist within the jail but said that several moneyed inmates used to pay their fellow prisoners to do some prison works for them.
The Caloocan City Jail, designed to accommodate at least 400 inmates now has a total of 1,246 prisoners, is headed by Chief Inspector Teofelo Labating. – Pete Laude
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