Cebu inmate dies of drug overdose

CEBU CITY — An inmate of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) here reportedly succumbed to a drug overdose last Wednesday afternoon.

Jeffrey Navarro, 39, single and a resident of Barangay Punta Princesa, was immediately brought to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center after jail personnel noticed he "never stopped coughing" inside his cell.

Navarro had been in the BBRC for two years after being accused of stabbing another man.

However, none of the BBRC personnel would confirm the inmate’s death. It was city councilor Augustus Pe who confirmed Navarro’s death after visiting the inmate’s wake at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Punta Princesa.

Pe said he was able to read Navarro’s death certificate and referred it to Cebu City Medical Center chief Felicitas Manaloto.

He said Manaloto explained to him that Navarro had an overdose of illegal drugs.

Pe questioned the continued proliferation of shabu inside the BBRC. He said he does not want to talk to BBRC warden Nestor Velasquez anymore.

Instead, he said he would recommend to acting Mayor Michael Rama to investigate the incident. — Freeman News Service