PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The management of the Palawan Provincial Jail (PPJ) said Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte’s nationwide smoking ban was good for the health of its 1,258 detainees.
Jose Sany Rabago, Assistant Provincial Warden of the Provincial Jail Management Division (PJMD), said the strict enforcement of the “no smoking ban” inside the PPJ had helped in their aim to ensure that all their “persons deprived of liberty (PDL)” were healthy while inside the province’s jail facility.
Of the total number of detainees in the PPJ, 67 are female, 12 are Vietnamese nationals, one Japanese and one Korean.
“Our foremost priority in the PJMD is the health of the detainees who are here. We ensure they get the best quality of life they can get despite what offenses they committed,” Rabago said.
He said that initially, the detainees had a hard time quitting from smoking, but eventually got accustomed to not lighting up due to strict implementation of the policy.
“To ensure they do not think about smoking in their boredom, we engage them in sports activities, and regular exercises that can help them,” he said.
The Technical Education Skills and Development Authority is also helping provide livelihood skills training to the detainees that they can use once their cases are resolved, he added.
The “no smoking” policy is strictly enforced in and outside the perimeters of the provincial jail, and visitors are banned from bringing cigarette packs for the PDL when they visit. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
