Jail in Iloilo has only 9 guards per shift for nearly 2T inmates

ILOILO CITY — By United Nations standards, custodial personnel (or jail guards) to inmate ratio should be at 1:7, but the Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) at Barangay Nanga in Pototan town is far short of it.

The IDJ at present has 1,946 inmates and its warden, Jail Superintendent John Montero, said there are only about 30 personnel assigned at the custodial service unit. "Usually there are only nine personnel working per shift," he told The FREEMAN.

These personnel usually conduct headcount of inmates, monitor their movement, check jail visitors, and implement greyhound operation, among other tasks.

The IDJ has 120 prison cells, with a normal capacity of 1,013 inmates, but it is now congested with almost 2,000 inmates, 90 percent of whom are facing drug-related charges, Montero said.

The possibility of prisoners planning to bolt their cells is always high, but the probability of success is remote, Montero said in response to reports that some inmates maybe planning to escape after he instituted changes in the jail.

These changes include stricter measures on visitation and the inmates' limited access to several areas inside the compound. "I think it's but normal for inmates to think of escaping. What's important here is we are taking measures and we are innovating to prevent any plan of a jailbreak," Montero said.

Despite the lack of personnel, the IDJ management said measures are in place to prevent inmates and their visitors from sneaking contrabands into the prison cells; and from giving them chances to escape detention.

After his recent assumption as IDJ warden, Montero conducted greyhound operations last October 10, after four inmates were tested positive for illegal drug use. There were no drugs found however, but there were mobile phone’s SIM cards, and drug paraphernalia.