By: Leomel H. Pasquin
THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Regional Office 6 (BJMP RO6) hosted the Facility Development Process (FDP) Training for jail regional engineers on April 2-4, 2019 at the Seda Hotel, Iloilo City.
The three-day training focused on the minimum standards on jail designs compliant to the requirements of the United Nations.
Due to the pressing demand for new facilities brought about by the increasing congestion of inmates which reached an approximately 500 percent in 2016, the BJMP in partnership with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) came up with a new module on the basic standards to which all designs of new jail must be based.
ICRC representative Jean Francois Pinera said that the BJMP needs to have a minimum standard to follow in coming up with the design as well as the construction of jail to ensure that the basic rights and needs of inmates are respected.
Meanwhile, Jail Chief Superintendent Arnel Gongona, BJMP-6 Regional Director, said it is necessary to have pool of engineers who are adept on this matter.
Gongona was referring to the 29 engineers from all regions in Visayas and Mindanao who were sent by their respective offices to attend the training.
“We need to familiarize ourselves with the minimum standards for us to be guided in our quest to construct more jail facilities, and there is nobody better to lead us than our engineers themselves,” Gongona said.
Last month, the same training was introduced to 38 jail wardens in Region 6 to familiarize themselves with the module containing technical descriptions that must be adhered by all personnel involved in the design, processes and construction or renovation of jails.
Jail Senior Superintendent Ma. Anne Espinosa, head of the contingent from the BJMP National Headquarters who also served as a resource speaker, said that the BJMP has wider opportunity to build new jails due to the positive outlook of the Department of Budget Management (DBM), as long as there are reliable and adequate data that will justify such construction.
Espinosa is optimistic that this training will finally give a positive result for all regional offices to hasten their proposals and submit them to proper funding agencies for approval.
