NEW
HOME.Some 300 inmates at the Bohol District Jail now enjoy a totally different
atmosphere including its well-paved grounds with landscaping while right photo
shows Gov. Aumentado and warden Jagorin unveil the grotto last Wednesday. | | "No
Longer belligerent!"
Thus
Gov. Erico Aumentado described the attitude of some 300 inmates of the Bohol District
Jail (BDJ) almost a year after their infamous riot. |
Aumentado
led department heads and chiefs of offices of the provincial government in attending
Holy Wednesday mass at the jail, followed by the blessing and enthronement of
the icon of Our Lady of Fatima, their patroness. The
governor had provided the four-foot image made of fiberglass - bought all the
way from Cebu City - along with a P100,000 livelihood assistance for the inmates
and P150,000 for the improvement of the cells.
Following
the mass, the inmates rendered songs and dances for the visitors at the quadrangle
- now landscaped, complete with fountains in ponds connected by a bridge that
the inmates passed through in their choreographed numbers.
The
repertoire was Visayan folk, ballads and adaptations of local compositions - blending
of voices included - with some lyrics changed to suit the occasion like "welcome
sa among pinuy-anan (welcome to our home)" and "balik sa BDJ, balik
(come back to BDJ, come back)".
J/Supt.
Felixberto Jagorin Jr. of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), warden,
and Fr. James Darunday, chaplain and Capitol consultant on values formation led
in welcoming Aumentado and the visitors that included P/Sr. Supt. Edgardo Ingking,
Bohol police provincial director and BJMP 7 assistant regional directors.
First-time
visitors commented that the provincial jail - the management and supervision of
which has been turned over to the BJMP since September last year - has now assumed
a mountain resort ambience. A fountain on the right side of the administration
building and water gushing out from a rock wall and falling into a pool on the
other side near where the statue is enshrined, give a cool and refreshing atmosphere.
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| | Blossoming
plants and the foliage of ornamentals lining the pathways have transformed the
drab limestone into a kaleidoscope of colors, adding to the resort ambience.
A
nurse by profession, Jagorin has tapped the therapeutic effect of water to the
fullest. Aside from the fountains and "falls", pool and ponds beneath
the bridge, he also had waterfalls and lake views painted on previously gray walls.
Draperies
with a green motif give the administration building interiors a cool and work-conducive
effect. A full-length mirror near the entrance reminds jailers to always check
their bearing if anything is amiss in their uniforms. | Aware
that the rocky limestone grounds would hardly be welcoming to the plants, the
warden had soil from where the inmates used to tend swine hauled - to beside the
pathways for the ornamentals and to the vegetable gardens.
Today,
he said, the inmates now grow their own vegetables that the mess in-charge buys.
This way, the detainees get to eat organically grown vegetables that are super
fresh, and in the process, have some money to buy personal necessities like laundry
detergent, bath soap, toothpaste and the like, as well as sanitary napkins for
the female detainees.
He
also sought the assistance of the provincial government in securing calcium carbide
(kalburo) from Mandaue City with which to whitewash the inside and outside of
the hollow block perimeter wall of the jail.
He
had a hygienic kitchen with screened doors and windows built.
Aumentado
was all praises for Jagorin who said the inmates now take to heart the routine
he has set - including time for work, sunning and exercise, doing the laundry
and hanging them to dry, meals, tending to the garden, cleaning the surroundings,
disposing of garbage, and even prayers and Bible study.
To
note, the inmates had conducted a noise barrage, destroyed the sliding doors to
their cells and pelted the administration building with stones that almost hit
the warden and some guards - and demanded changes in the jail system some of which
were brazen violations of the jail manual.
Ingking
had conducted the negotiations but because they were belligerent, Aumentado authorized
a raid by a composite team of police, soldiers, firemen and even a Special Weapons
and Tactics (SWAT) unit from Cebu.
The
early dawn raid resulted in the confiscation of assorted improvised weapons, the
death of an inmate, and the transfer of the riot leaders to the Tagbilaran District
Jail (TCJ).
As
an aftermath, the jail management was strict for awhile - limiting visiting time
for spouses and relatives to one hour only - making the travel time and the waiting
period for the turn of some longer than the actual meeting with their loved ones.
Little
by little, the former warden gave back rights and privileges - until Aumentado
turned over the jail management through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that he
and Jail Director Rosendo Dial, chief of the BJMP, signed in rites held at the
Governor's Mansion. J/Chief Supt. Doris Dorigo, BJMP Region 7 director, provincial
and city prosecutors as well as local officials witnessed the signing.
At
the time of the signing, Dial said Bohol was only the third province nationwide
to turn over to BJMP the management of its jail by virtue of a MOA in the meantime
that the bill to the effect has not passed into a law yet.
Inspired
by the changes for the better both in the attitude of the inmates and the jail's
physical facilities, Aumentado declared that BJMP has his full support.
And
the rest - so they say - is history.
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