Alert up as over 800 inmates off to new IRC
Ilonggo inmates bid old IRC bye, say hello to 'hi-tech' jail
After about six failed pronouncements, bags are finally packed and it is all-systems go for the 853 inmates of the Iloilo Rehabilitation Center (IRC) as they bid goodbye the historical building by the Iloilo Provincial Capitol and start rehabilitation and detention in the new jail in Barangay Nanga, Pototan, Iloilo.
As such, it will be a busy day for the men and women of the IRC as retired Police Senior Supt. Juan Mabugat, IRC warden orders full evacuation and transfer of all detainees starting today (Friday). Leading the pack is the 70 year-old murder suspect, the oldest in the group alongside the youngest detainee, 13 year-old boy from Concepcion, Iloilo who stands accused of theft for a few pesos of missing money. Altogether though, the 30-minute transport of the IRC inmates including the ten Ilonggo convicts awaiting transfer to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa further includes 17 juveniles and twenty women detainees.
Expected is the full-force of the 82 provincial jail officers distributed in three major groups - one for the standby personnel at the old IRC, another providing escort to the five IRC vans set to make the transport and last group specifically chosen to receive the first batch of the new IRC 'tenants.' All three groups will be fully-armed with new machine pistols recently issued and briefed on heightened security measures kept confidential.
Records, fixtures and other jail equipment has since been moved with IRC personnel and selected jail guards already on the go today. The inmates will have to wait for their long-announced transfer at the break of dawn tomorrow to give way to a number of Court appearances at the Ramon Avanceña Hall of Justice today.
"We're all set to go. Everybody goes. What stays are memories," Warden Mabugat said when reached for update by The News Today while adding in jest, "and their trash."
And it will be a continuous trip back and forth Iloilo City to Pototan as request for augmentation from the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) were made if only to assure the smooth transfer of these accused Ilonggos, cases ranging from murder, rape, illegal possession of firearms, robbery and drug raps. One trip will see the parade of at least 100 of these inmates on board the five vans.
As long been set, new rules are to be implemented in the multi-million new IRC facility with a one-week suspension of regular visits from families of the inmates. Beyond that, it will be back to normal with the 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. schedule and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. "Sunning" will still be between 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. yet with better amenities available, the detainees may not get to enjoy more television viewing and yes, a library for those who are into books.
"The total land area is 15 hectares but our building is only about 1 hectare," Supt. Mabugat explained in an earlier interview.
"We will have standard cells that will comfortably house eight to twelve inmates in each cell. We will have a clear division of the juveniles, women inmates and the men in the group. - There is a total of 64 cells for these. - The transfer will - be done once there is full construction of the security fence, it would be cyclone wire with barbed-wire and is 12 feet high. - We will see an inner and outer security fence with some 6 meter-gap in between. - And arrangements are underway for the creation of a ward in the Pototan Provincial Hospital for the exclusive use of IRC inmates in the event they are out for hospital confinement."
The new IRC with total budget of P70 million is expected to see "substantial and sufficient"modern gadgets and amenities. This, Warden Mabugat said will mean a lot of surveillance cameras, a more comfortable and useful lawyers' lounge and better visitors' area. - The new rules for visitation will also see procedural changes however the ever established conjugal visits stay as practiced.
And to complete the new 'look' for the IRC, Supt. Mabugat would one day want to have at least two K-9 sniffing dogs.