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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – Inmates at the Iloilo City District Jail (ICDJ) Female Dormitory need a bigger space.
Crammed in the facility at the Iloilo City Police Office compound on General Luna Street are 178 detainees, around six times more than its capacity of only 28 people.
Sleeping is particularly difficult for the inmates, as some had to use the visiting area just to have some shut-eye, said the warden Inspector Imee Lopera.
Of the 178 detainees in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-managed facility, 164 have drug-related cases.
Lopera sought help from Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog in finding a new location and a bigger facility.
She said Mabilog told them they may be allotted a space at the defunct housing project in Pavia, Iloilo.
Lopera said she also appealed to Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Loida J. Diestro-Maputol that the ICDJ-Female Dormitory be allowed to refuse more detainees if its current population reaches 200.
An increase in inmates would affect visiting hours, Lopera said. “Ang matabo, instead mag-half day ang every inmate, tag-two hours na lang.”
She said they are doing everything to fast-track the inmates’ cases, especially the “petty” ones, to lessen the population.
The ICDJ-Female Dormitory has taken in more than 50 inmates since July, all with drug-related cases, Lopera said.
But aside from overcrowding, Lopera said they are also dealing with behavioral problems among the detainees, especially the new ones.
She cited one suspected illegal drug user who stopped taking drugs since her detention; she would scream for no apparent reason.
“We have a psychologist, and students from [University of] San Agustin help provide counseling,” said the jail warden.
Not everything is bad at the ICDJ-Female Dormitory. Lopera takes pride in their “therapeutic community modality program,” which she believes changed many inmates, especially those already released.
She said the inmates can use the skills they learn through the Alternative Learning System offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), among other institutions, when they get out.
Among others, the detainees are engaged in beadwork, their biggest income-generating activity, said Lopera.
The jail management tapped the DTI so the inmates’ products may be displayed and sold in malls, and the Tinukib store, which also accommodates the products.
Soon it will enter into an agreement with the University of San Agustin and Tesda for free computer literacy lessons. Inmates who can finish the course will be given certificates, said Lopera.
She said they can carry out more programs if they have a bigger space.
“We can rehabilitate them better,” Lopera said. “Right now, especially with the limited space, we really try to instill discipline among them. I tell them their situation is no hindrance to making themselves better persons.”/PN
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