The jail is next to the more famous prison, the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) – the facility known for its dancing inmates.



The old city jail was opened in 1975. It was first located in Barangay Lahug, next to the former airport (now the IT Park) and transferred to Kalunasan in 2007.



The inmates are those charged and convicted of crimes that happened within Cebu City, which is autonomous from the provincial government. The CPDRC, on the other hand, houses inmates whose crimes occurred within the jurisdiction of the Province of Cebu.



Most congested



According to a Freedom of Information report released by the BJMP in March 2019, the Cebu City Jail had a congestion rate of 983% in the male dormitory, specifically. The male dorm has 61 cells, according to the BJMP report.



Mayor Edgar Labella told reporters in October 2019 that the dorm has a capacity of only 82 inmates, but housed over 922, for a congestion rate of about 1,000%.



All detention facilities are prone to the spread of pathogens, but it is more worrisome now in the Cebu City Jail. (READ: 'Takot na takot kami': While government stalls, coronavirus breaks into PH jails)