The congestion rate of male dorm of the Baguio City Jail has improved to 138 percent in April this year compared to the 162 percent congestion rate in the same period last year.
Jail Superintendent April Rose W. Ayangwa, warden of the Baguio City Jail Male Dorm, said as of April 17, the facility had a population of 365 persons deprived of liberty who are distributed in 27 rooms within the 1,295-square meter floor area of the jail.
She said with an area of 1,540 square meters, the Baguio City Jail Male Dorm is one of the congested jails in the Cordillera based on the standards of the United Nations where the space for each PDL is 4.7 square meters.
Ayangwa said the decrease in the facility’s congestion rate was made possible with the diligent efforts of the courts of law where 371 PDLs were released from January to December last year out of the 404 PDLs that were committed for detention.
She said there are 400 PDLs detained in the facility when she assumed office in January 2023 and from January to April 16 this year, a total of 180 offenders were released while 116 were committed for detention.
She said the courts are doing all interventions to help in decongesting the jail to ensure it will be compliant with the UN standards.
Ayangwa assured stakeholders the Baguio City Jail Male Dorm will be able to provide more developmental opportunities to the PDLs to prepare them for their reintegration to society.
She said the proposed construction of the Baguio City Jail male and female dorms at Barangay San Luis village covering an area of 3,750 square meters pursuant to a deed of usufruct between the city government and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is yet to be included in the agency’s 2024 budget.
She expressed the BJMP’s gratitude to the city government for the support in the proposed construction of the building to address the facility’s congestion. – PIO release
