THE City Council's Public Order and Public Safety committee is working on an ordinance or resolution to ease the legal requirements for those applying for plea bargain, the committee chairperson Councilor Romeo Calizo said.
"I'm working with PAO (Public Attorney's Office) so that we can come up with an ordinance where walaon ang ubang mga requirements for those applying for plea bargain," Calizo said.
According to Calizo, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said that when the ordinance is enforced, more or less 400 inmates will be out of the city jail.
The ordinance is one of the solutions they have come up to decongest the Cagayan de Oro City Jail in Barangay Lumbia, Calizo said.
The councilor said the BJMP gave a memo stating that the city jail cannot accept new arrivals as they do no longer have spaces.
This will lead to persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) to be put in the same detention cells with persons under police custody (PUPC), Calizo added.
"Ang nahitabo, na congest na hinoon kining mga detention cells sa mga istasyon, and we know the situation of our detention facilities sa mga istasyon kay murag dili maayo nga tan-awon sa atong syudad, wala pa tay ideal nga police station where spaces for detention are available," Calizo said.
As of November 15, the total number of PDLs who tested positive for the novel coronavirus is at 155. Coronavirus-positive inmates are placed in an isolation facility, while the holding area houses PDLs who were transferred from the city police stations.
Calizo said that Cagayan de Oro City Police Office Chief Henry Dampal suggested the construction of additional detention facilities.
"That may come in after quite a relatively long period. Dili man gud na pwede nga ora-orada mahuman," Calizo said.
The other solution that came come up, apart from the ordinance, to decongest the city jail is to reduce the bail.
"Ang di maka afford, di man gud na makabayad. Mapundo lang sila diha and it will never solve the problem of congestion," Calizo said, adding that an ordinance for it will not be needed but instead a memo should be issued by the City Prosecutor's Office.
The councilor said that once the ordinance to ease legal requirements for plea bargain is approved by the mayor, they will help the Parole and Provisions Office in monitoring those who has got out of the city jail through plea bargain.
