Baguio has 93 female PDLs most with drug cases

There are currently 93 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) housed at the Baguio City Jail-Female Dorm (BCJ-FD) majority of whom are charged with drug-related cases.

During the flag-raising rites at City Hall, March 21, BCJ-FD officer-in-charge JSInsp. Vilma Fangsilat said 70 percent of the PDLs are detained due to violation of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022 while the rest are for estafa, illegal recruitment, and homicide.

To maintain the BCJ-FD’s status as a ‘drug-free facility’, she disclosed that her office conducts surprise and random drug testing on the PDLs and its personnel including implementing an intensified thorough search of the banned substance.

“Their cases (PDLs) are all being acted upon by the authorities specially the courts who are making ways and means for the speedy disposition of their cases in accordance with law notwithstanding the pandemic we are currently experiencing,” Fangsilat said.

This is in order to impose the appropriate penalty to those who are found guilty and free those not guilty to prevent the miscarriage of justice, she stressed.

While waiting for the disposition of their cases, the BCJ-FD is undertaking measures to enhance public safety by ensuring the safekeeping, welfare and development of the PDLs, Fangsilat said. – Gaby B. Keith