Characterization of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at Cabarroguis District Jail, Cabarroguis, Quirino

At present, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) have in its custody a total of sixty thousand four hundred thirty-six (60, 436) inmates detained in its four hundred twenty-three (423) district, city and municipal jail facilities. Only about five percent (5%) of the detainees are sentenced and the rest are either awaiting or undergoing trial.

Coupled with the fact that most jails in the urban areas are grossly overcrowded, it is imperative then for the BJMP to make sure that they are properly taken care of and that their basic needs such as food, water, and accommodations are provided and that they are humanely treated by the jail officers who are sworn to keep them safe while in detention. District jails under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology created by virtue of the DILG Act of 1990 paved way on the creation of more jails efficiently manned by professionals, qualified, trained and committed jail personnel all over the country. In the Province of Quirino, there is a lone district jail located in Enrile Road, Purok 7, Zamora, Cabarroguis. Quirino, manned by a commissioned officer. It has a total of one hundred thirty three Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) committed for the trial of their cases. The jail caters to PDLs who are awaiting final judgment. This study was limited on the characterization of PDLS committed at the Cabarroguis District Jail, in Cabarroguis, Quirino. The researcher made used of a questionnaire to gather the needed data from the respondents. Interview was also conducted in order to verify some vague answers on the questionnaire. Findings of the study on age, most of the respondents are young with an age brackets of 28–37 years old years old, majority are males, married, Roman Catholic, reached/finished high school, not employed, committed crimes against person and were arraigned, attended 1–5 times court hearings, been in jail for almost 1 month-6 months and most claimed that they were alleged suspects of the crimes charged against them. It is therefore concluded that select variables like sex, highest educational attainment and occupation before detention of the respondents have something to do with the commission of crimes.