The Quezon City government has acquired a 3.4 hectare property in Barangay Payatas as site of the new QC Jail.
To formalize the acquisition of the property, Mayor Herbert Bautista signed on Wednesday at QC Hall the deed of absolute sale for the new jail site.
M.S, Florendo and Sons, Inc., the registered owner of the property, was represented during the signing by Attorneys Arturo and Mary Joyce Selim.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which will oversee the construction of the building, was represented by Regional Director Emmanuel Sicio, at the signing.
The acquisition of the property was authorized by an ordinance adopted by the QC Council in 2014.
For many years, the QC jail project had been delayed because of the lack of appropriate site for the facility. The QC government decided to transfer the QC jail from EDSA Kamuning to a new site as a solution to the congestion in the present facility.
The Mayor, during the occasion, requested BJMP officials to study if they could also consider transfering the QC Female Dormitory to the city’s new jail site. The female jail ward is presently located at the QC Police District headquarters at Camp Karingal.
To date, there are 2,993 male detainees at the QC Jail at Edsa, Kamuning under the stewardship of Jail warden J/Supt. Randel Latoza while the number of female detainees at QC Female Dormitory under the leadership of Jail warden J/CInsp. Elena Rocamora have reached 595 inmates.
Jail SInsp. Alberto Mariano, Chief of Real Property Division–Directorate for Logistic bared that the P200 million budget for the construction of new QC jail, which was allocated and incorporated in the agency’s 2012 budget, had already been reverted, thus the fund will be requested again to finance the construction.
Based on the plan, Mariano said the new QC jail facility will be composed of two 5-storey buildings that can accommodate 6,600 inmates.
Meanwhile, to ensure that the newly-acquired property at Barangay Payatas can also be of use to the community, Mayor Bautista bared that the city government is also planning to put up a barangay community center in the area since only 2.4 hectares of the acquired property will be utilized as jail site.
“It is best if there is also a facility which the host community can use,” the Mayor said.
Secretary to the mayor Tadeo Palma, who served as a witness for the city government during the signing of the deed of sale, said the city government will start the construction of the barangay community center in 2016. “One hectare of the acquired property shall be set aside for the construction of the center,” Palma said (Maureen/Precy)
Posted By: Edrillan Pasion
