Provincial warden Col. Marcos Ybañez yesterday denied the allegations of prisoners about their food budget and the quality of rice given to them and said these are just part of a ploy to destabilize the provincial jail.

Ybañez said he believes these claims are due to the aim of some convicts to sow disorder in the jail and who have some ulterior motives.

An anonymous letter from an inmate to Bombo Radyo on May 10, which was turned over to the Governor's Office, claimed they were given third class rice known as "bahay" that had worms.

The sender however, did not specify when this happened but said that the inmates used to receive good quality rice before the incident.

The inmate also claimed that the meal budget for every prisoner per day is P35.

Ybañez explained, that although the rice they give to inmates is "not of very good quality", the food does not have worms.

He added that their daily budget for each inmate is P30 and not P35. Meanwhile, Governor Joseph Marañon said that he had already requested President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order the transfer of the provincial jail to a five-hectare property donated to the provincial government in Tabunan, Bago City.

Marañon said he will remind Arroyo about this when she visits Negros next month. In Tabunan, he said, the inmates can augment their food needs by planting high value crops and raising animals.*PP

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