‘E-dalaw’ lets families ‘visit’ jailed loved ones remotely amid pandemic

Due to the high incidence of COVID-19 in many of the country's overcrowded jails, prisons and detention facilities, families are currently only allowed to see their incarcerated loved ones remotely, through the "e-dalaw" system.

“Nagkaroon tayo ng jail lockdown; wala munang mga physical visitation sa mga facilities natin,” Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) spokesman Xavier Solda said in Jun Veneracion’s report on “24 Oras.”

(We have jail lockdowns. Physical visitations are currently not allowed at our facilities.)

“Instead, in-expand na lang namin ‘yung ating electronic visitation o ‘yung e-dalaw,” he added.

(Instead, we have expanded our electronic visitation or e-dalaw.)

A total of 3,257 detainees of BJMP have tested positive for COVID-19, of whom at least 100 are still active cases.

The positive inmates are brought to Ligtas COVID Centers. They will only return once they have recovered.

“Since this is an isolated area, mas natututukan natin ‘yung COVID-19 management natin doon sa mga active cases ng PDL,”” Solda said.

(Since this is an isolated area, we can focus on the management of our active COVID-19 cases.) — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News