Oops! Tourist tries to book room at Baguio jail

BAGUIO CITY—A local tourist planning a weekend stay here mistakenly inquired about room availability at the female dormitory of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Sharing the exchange in a social media post on Friday, the BJMP said it received a message from a female netizen asking if it had “available units” for rent for her upcoming trip to the country’s summer capital.

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The administrator of the jail’s official Facebook page had to explain to the tourist that “Ma’am, this is a jail for women,” punctuating the reply with a smiley.

“Ay, sori po,” came the room seeker’s apology, with a crying emoji for stress.

The BJMP did not name the tourist who made the inquiry but said it obtained permission to post a screenshot of the exchange.

Current occupancy

It capped the post with a reminder to all that “BJMP’s jail facilities are not hotels.”

The Baguio City jail is located next to the local police headquarters and across the street from City Hall along the busy Abanao Road.

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If it were a hotel, then its occupancy is as follows based on the count released on July 9 by the BJMP: 236 inmates at the male dormitory (for a “congestion rate” of 74 percent) and 49 inmates at the female dormitory (206 percent).

The BJMP earlier announced plans to move the jail to a seven-story building that will be constructed at another location, one that offers a full view of the Baguio Cemetery. *—With a report from Jason Sigales *