The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) announced on Sunday that they were preparing for the reimplementation of the granular opening of “no contact visitations” among Person Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) this Christmas season.
“Ibig po sabihin niyan, ‘yung mga pasilidad natin na nasa low risk areas at may pasilidad na or area na for non-contact visitation, ay papayagan nang magkaroon ng dalaw kaya lamang po may ibang kondisyon,” BJMP spokesperson Chief Inspector Xavier Solda said during a virtual presser.
(This means that our facilities in low-risk areas that already have facilities for non-contact visitation will be allowed to accommodate visitors but with a few conditions.)
He noted that visitors need to bring their vaccination cards that show they are fully vaccinated and their valid government-issued IDs. They also need to wait for the visiting schedule to avoid long queues and for crowd control purposes.
“Bale ngayong resumption ng granular opening of non-contact visitation, ang magiging sistema natin sa jail ay isang pamilya lamang ang papayagan sa mga dadalaw. Bawal muna ang mga bata at hanggang isang oras lamang po ang papayagan na oras ng dalaw,” Solda added.
(The jail rules during the resumption of the granular opening of non-contact visitation include: that only one family member is allowed to visit, kids are also not allowed, and visitation time only lasts for an hour.)
The BJMP will also conduct an orientation before the visit to remind families of the dos and don’ts during the visit.
Solda said that designated BJMP facilities will put up physical barriers as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, both for the PDLs and their family members who will visit them.
“Tanging paguusap at pagkikita lamang ang posible,” he added.
(Only talking and seeing each other would be allowed).
However, he said that facilities that do not have enough areas to accommodate the said policy would have to resort to electronic visitation or BJMP’s e-Dalaw service.
E-dalaw, BJMP’s development program, was put in place after the BJMP declared lockdowns in jails and suspended contact visitation since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the BJMP, this year, over 100,000 inmates were able to contact their loved ones through this program.
Solda said that there is no definite date yet as to when this policy will be enacted. However, some BJMP facilities in Cebu, Cordillera, and Metro Manila have started with the pilot run for the non-contact visitation and are just waiting for the directives of their respective regional directors.
“The soonest time na makumpleto ng mga jail facilities natin ‘yung mga requirements para sa non-contact visitation, partiklular sa doon sa areas na dapat ay ma-designate natin, as well as the requirements for the health screening, then magre-resume na rin ang ating non-contact visitation,” he said.
(The soonest that our jail facilities complete the requirements, especially the areas we need to designate and the requirements for the health screening, then the non-contact visitation will resume.)
— DVM, GMA News
0 Comments