Governor Petilla orders wardens: Cleanse jails of illegal drugs

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Jail wardens and guards have been ordered to cleanse and eliminate illegal drugs inside the jails in Leyte province.

Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla told reporters he issued the order to jail officials, after receiving reports that many inmates have been using illegal drugs, mostly shabu, which have been proliferating inside the jails.

Petilla said he wanted an investigation on how illegal drugs were sneaked into the jails, and directed the officials to end drug abuse and transactions.

The spread of illegal drugs in the province has worsened, said the governor, citing the congestion of jails with inmates facing drug-related cases.

The Leyte Provincial Jail at Barangay Kauswagan of Palo, for one, has134 inmates, 13 of them women and three juvenile offenders, he said.

Petilla however said the situation in jails now is being monitored with close circuit televisions installed to check the movement and activities of the inmates.

The governor said sub-provincial jails in the cities of Baybay and Ormoc, and in the towns of Carigara, Palompon, Hilongos, Calubian and Abuyog are now under investigation for reported illegal drugs trade and use inside these establishments.