Provincial

NEW JAIL FACILITY INAUGURATED DURING MARAWI SIEGE 7TH ANNIVERSARY

admin May 25, 2024

A NEWLY-CONSTRUCTED Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility was inaugurated during the commemoration of the 7^th year anniversary of the Marawi siege on Friday in Marawi City.

Interior Undersecretary for Public Safety Serafin Barretto Jr. graced the momentous event – seven years after residents of the city were enveloped with fear as a result of the armed conflict between government troops and militants.

Barretto was joined by BJMP chief Director Ruel Rivera; BJMP Deputy Chief for Operations (DCO) Chief Supt. Efren Nemeno; Australian Embassy Deputy Ambassador Dr. Moya Collett; Marawi City Mayor attorney Majul Gandamara; Director for International Affairs and Linkages Office of the Mindanao State University, Director Melba Angin and representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).

Also in attendance were various stakeholders from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), court judges, barangay officials and partners, including members of the Task Force Bangon Marawi.

According to BJMP spokesperson Chief Insp. Jayrex Bustinera, the brand-new jail facility, which is located in Bgy. Biaba Damag, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, can accommodate some 500 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

Currently, the jail has only 150 jailbirds who are sharing zero-congestion spaces.

On May 23, 2017, a group of militants occupied the silent city of Marawi, holding residents as hostages, and eventually starting an armed clash with government soldiers.

The attack affected majority of the city to include PDLs in the old Marawi City Jail, which was torn down as a result of the siege.

The plan to rebuild the facility was initiated during the activation of Task Force Bangon Marawi ,with various stakeholders took part. It included the Mindanao State University (MSU) that donated the land where the New Marawi City Jail stands.

BJMP’s operationalization of the New Marawi City Jail was made possible with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of the Australian Government.

Barretto said that the construction of the brand-new Marawi City is just the start of the entire process of restoration and that the more serious and greater work is in healing of the people.