Negros Occidental to transfer overcrowded jail in June

More than 400 inmates of the provincial jail in Negros Occidental may finally get some relief from overcrowding when provincial authorities transfer the jail to its new site in June. Provincial jail warden Inspector Dionesio Silva said the prison facility at Gatuslao Street is overcrowded and no longer suitable, the Visayan Daily Star reported. Barring last-minute hitches, he said the 400-plus inmates will be transferred to the new jail site in Tabunan village in Bago City. Silva noted the International Geneva Convention on the rights of prisoners decrees that a detention cell should only have at least two inmates. In the case of the Negros Occidental Provincial Jail, the lack of prison cells force up to 20 prisoners to squeeze into one cell, he said. The new provincial jail is a two-story building with tiled comfort and bathrooms, and has enough prison cells. Silva said that the entry of cellular phones and bladed weapons will be minimized at the new facility. The warden noted that during an inspection last December, authorities seized several bladed weapons and three new cellular phones. —LBG, GMANews.TV