CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Region 3 is spearheading psycho spiritual interventions to address mental and social health issues driven by the current pandemic.
BJMP Central Luzon Program Development Chief Inspector Marina Teodoro shared that weekly webinars are conducted throughout the jails in the region not only for the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) but also for its personnel.
“We focus on mental health programs because the World Health Organization said that the number one cause of death is depression or loneliness because of COVID-19. Our regional office also focuses on health seminars,” she said.
As a result, she mentioned that BJMP Region 3 has not yet recorded any suicidal accidents both among personnel and PDLs.
Meanwhile, Teodoro announced that on record, there are 8,668 PDLs housed in 36 jails all over the region.
“The crowding of jails is a perennial problem. However, 24 of our jails already constructed new buildings for decongestion,” she explained.
BJMP currently logged 1,061 female PDLs regionwide which make up almost 10 percent of the jail population.
Teodoro disclosed that some of the jail constructions were turned to quarantine facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Putting them on quarantine does not mean that they are COVID-19 infected. What we do is if there is a person convicted with a case, we do not automatically put that person in the general population. We put them in another building to undergo a quarantine period to make sure that they are not infected with the disease,” she explained.
Moreover, as the current pandemic restricts physical visitations, BJMP launched “E-dalaw” where PDLs could connect and talk to their families through online platforms such as Messenger and Zoom.
“Health is the primary concern of everyone because of COVID-19. Because of the situation, we do not allow physical visitations. We do E-dalaw to ensure the welfare of our PDLs at this time,” Teodoro said.
Families who want to connect to PDLs should contact the Facebook pages of district, city, or municipal jails to coordinate for E-dalaw schedules. They could also contact the official page of BJMP Region 3 at facebook.com/BJMPROIII. / Jag Lyra Costamero