No secret jails in GenSan, only overcrowded detention cells

The local police's Internal Affairs Service (IAS) office in General Santos City on Sunday declared that there are no secret jails in the city.

"Mabuti naman negative ang secret jail sa GenSan," said Chief Inspector Noel Diagan, head of the General Santos City Police Office's IAS.

Diagan said they conducted an inspection of the city police's eight custodial facilities based on an order from the IAS main unit in Manila.

"Nagpalabas ng memo ang higher headquarters to conduct inspection sa lahat ng detention cell, para makita kung may ganoong pangyayari na mayroong secret jail," he said.

The order was issued after the Commission on Human Rights discovered during a surprise inspection last week that the Manila Police District's Station 1 was maintaining a secret jail.

The secret jail was hidden behind a book shelf inside Station 1's Drug Enforcement Unit office. The station's commander and the whole DEG team have been sacked from their posts.

Diagan said that during the inspection, they discovered that three of the eight custodial facilities of the city police are overcroweded with inmates. One custodial facility had no water supply, he added.

He said they will recommend the purchase of double deck beds for the overcrowded detention facilities. —report from Garry Balantay/ALG, GMA News