Dialog at city jail ends in deadlock

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines  — Tensions still gripped the city jail following yesterday's stalemate on the scheduled dialogue between the jail management and the irate inmates to thresh out concerns affecting the latter.

Inmates continued their sit-down protest action yesterday at what they called "pasilyo" over their allegations of mismanagement of Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which runs the prison facility in barangay Cabawan of this city.

The prisoners have staged the protest since the other day, defying cement, led by Sr. Jail Insp Josephus Jelangiao, reportedly refused to talk to the prisoners and consent to their demand for a dialogue unless they first get inside their cells, said a fellow jail officer. 

The supposed dialogue set up yesterday morning (Oct. 7) was supposedly covered by the media, a radio reporter told The FREEMAN.

The inmates earlier accused jail management for alleged inhuman treatment following a certain foul meals served to them by the management.

Another allegation was that the jail management has been very strict by banning the purchase of goods outside the premises of the jail and instead forcing the inmates to buy in the store inside the jail, which was reportedly owned by the jail guards.

All the allegations were denied by the jail warden, saying there was no truth to them.

The jail management also imposed a strict no-cellphone inside the cells of the inmates who got angry as a result.

Despite these rules, inspection and confiscation of the communication gadgets, however, some of the inmates still managed to contact radio reporters to air their complaints in the air lanes over the past few days.

Unconfirmed reports stated that the inmates vent their anger following the reported replacement of the former warden, who was relieved for some alleged lapses, including the failure to prevent the killing of certain inmates by fellow inmates. (FREEMAN)