The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology – National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR) on Sunday said it is ready for the summer especially on the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

BJMP-NCR director Chief Supt. Clint Russel Tangeres, said water and power supply are still the top concerns in every facility to go along with the usual communicable diseases and heat strokes.

And with the El Niño threats hanging around, Tangeres said he instructed all his 39 wardens to see to it that proper coordination with the local government units (LGUs) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) are already in place.

Water rationing by the fire department he stressed has been the best response to prevent heat strokes and dehydration among persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), even as the so-called summer illnesses are highly likely to worsen because of heat and overcrowding.

The BFP through a memorandum of agreement (MOA), has committed to provide water to BJMP facilities in the NCR.

“Kailangan talaga ang tubig para iwas dehydration at yong amoy sa loob,” Tangeres said.

Boil or 'pigsa' and jail rash (rumbo-rumbo) are is still the two most popular health concerns in jails especially during summer.

In 2022, boil cases in NCR jails were on top with 6,647 and rumbo-rumbo at 4,011.

Boil records however went down in 2023 by 1,639 at 5,008 (boils) but rumbo-rumbo increased by 44 cases at 4055.

Other skin concerns that will be monitored this summer are conjunctivitis, contact dermatitis, heat rash (bungang araw), measles (tigdas) and varicella zoster (chiecken pox).

On the March to May 2022 nationwide data, hypertension remained on top of the medical concerns among jail health officers with 8,624 cases.

BJMP has 478 jails under its supervision across the country. NCR has the largest jail population among all 17 regions in the country with more than 30,000 inmates in 39 jail facilities.

Tangeres also reminded the wardens not to over-focused on the health concerns but put more weight on the security aspects of their assignments.

Riots and jailbreaks are always on the list of the workloads every jail official must consider.