BJMP: Most Inmates Die of Cardiac Arrest

An officer of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)7 on Monday attributed cardio-vascular or heart diseases as the cause of death of 20 inmates in Central Visayas last month.

J/J02 Ma. Roselle Escaño of BJMP7 said that aside from cardio-vascular disease, other 40 inmates from January to August this year died due to hypertension and tuberculosis. Escaño believes that over congestion of every facility was the main reason behind this.

She reiterated that congestion of the BJMP jail facilities is a perennial problem faced by the national government.

“This problem has started long years ago, because every year, persons committed crimes go to jail and their numbers are increasing,” Escaño added.

With the limited area of jail structures, every cell which supposedly good for four to eight inmates, are forced to be occupied by 20-30 prisoners, Escaño said.

However, she claimed some of the higher officials of the national government are adamant to grant their request to construct bigger jail structures to widen the area of inmates and at the same time to help protect their health.

According to Escaño the cardiac arrest which claimed 20 lives of prisoners last September, was caused mainly by “konsimisyon” or a highest degree of griefs due to lack of proper ventilation to relieve their anxieties inside their prison cell.

She also said that due to the congestion, any health disorder such as tuberculosis, coughs, fever and other illnesses suffered by any prisoner, could easily transfer to all of them inside the cell, because they are not properly protected.

While it is true that the government is budgeting P5 daily for their medicines, she said it is not enough to cover all their medical expenses when they are sick.

Though some of the deaths happened in the hospital, but majority of them lost breath inside their cell, according to the jail officer.

Escaño added that some of the victims were first timer in jail and apparently they failed to survive the great difficulties encountered by their lives for the first time.

Another reason on the government’s slow reaction to grant the request of the BJMP officials in the region to improve their different jail facilities, its because the government wants the inmates to think twice if they want to commit crimes again once they are released from jail.

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