Old IRC: From jail to museum
The old Iloilo Rehabilitation Center situated adjacent to the Provincial Capitol in Iloilo City will be converted into a regional museum, according to a proposal of Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.
Defensor said that instead of building a convention center at the former jail’s site, as proposed by the previous administration, he is proposing to have a regional museum built in the area to accommodate and preserve artifacts about the historical events of Iloilo, both city and province, and other provinces in Western Visayas.
Defensor said the present Museum Iloilo, located in front of the Provincial Capitol, has a very limited space. But even with the proposed new museum, the old one will be preserved, he added.
He said that building a museum is not as expensive as constructing a convention center.
“We will ask for financial assistance from the national level,” the governor said.
Former Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. proposed the construction of a convention center to attract investors as part of the Capitol revenue-generating project and make Iloilo as the next investment center in the country.
However, Defensor said Iloilo has no business having a convention center because it is not the place to accommodate thousands of delegates from other places considering the congested traffic flow in the city.
The old IRC, created in 1911 with total lot area of 868 square meters, can accommodate more than a thousand prisoners.
However, it was abandoned with the completion of new IRC building in Brgy. Nanga, Pototan town in 2006.
NEW IRC CONTROVERSIES
Since it opened four years ago, the new IRC, which has 737 inmates and 87 jail guards, was involved in various controversies.
Early this year, a jail break killed a fleeing inmate, and recaptured two others along with an outsider who helped the inmates escape.
The IRC management blamed the lack of sufficient facilities like perimeter fence, watch tower, and guard house for the jail break.
Last year, nearly 50 inmates were discovered to have developed beri-beri, a Vitamin B deficiency disease. Others became mentally unstable and had to be taken to a government-run mental institution in Metro Manila.
In November 11, 2009, the inmates, complaining of insufficient food, erratic scheduling of conjugal visits, jail mismanagement and corruption, staged a noise barrage.
