A TOTAL of 250 male persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and 27 jail personnel were tested negative for illegal drug use during the surprise drug test at Metro Bacolod District Jail (MBDJ)–male dormitory in Barangay Handumanan, Bacolod City Thursday, August 23.
Senior Inspector Norberto Miciano, jail warden, said the test was conducted by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Western Visayas, in the presence of barangay officials and religious organizations at 9:10 a.m.
The male inmates and jail personnel submitted their urine samples for the test that lasted for more than two hours.
Miciano said the jail has 785 inmates, adding that 65 percent of the total population are facing drug charges.
Majority of the inmates who underwent the drug screening are facing drug charges. Seventy of them were high-profile.
Although the results of the test were negative, Miciano still reminded personnel and inmates to never engage in illegal drugs.
"I won't tolerate such activity in the jail facility," he said.
Miciano said the objective of the test is to check the effectiveness of the security measures and to ensure that there is no presence of contraband inside the jail facility.
