Students, inmates in one compound

They are the most unlikely of neighbors.

High school and college students and convicted inmates share a single compound behind the Pasay City Hall.

The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay building and the city jail are right beside each other. And at the back of the jail is the Pasay City West High School.

What happens if there’s a jailbreak?

"Delikado talaga (It’s really dangerous)," city jail warden Chief Inspector Jaime Silva told reporters yesterday. Which is why he prefers that the city jail be transferred to another location. Silva said that his predecessors, have long requested the city government to donate a piece of land where the city jail can be transferred. But nothing has happened yet, he said. Moreover, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) also has a "tight budget," making the construction of a new jail nearly impossible, Silva added.

The present city jail is a four-storey building that also houses the city police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the police clearance office.

"From what I know, this was initially intended to be an office building," Silva said. But how it was turned into a city jail remains unknown to Silva, who was assigned to his position in February this year.

Inmates’ cell windows face a filthy yard which serves as an extension of the visitors’ area.

A BJMP official admitted in an interview with The STAR last month that the set-up allows some visitors to literally throw sachets of regulated drugs, such as shabu, into the hands of inmates. Five inmates were arrested last month holding a pot session inside a comfort room. They have been tested positive for drugs, Silva said. A few days before the incident, two female visitors were caught trying to sneak shabu into the jail. The sachets were tucked in their brassieres, police records showed.

Silva said that to prevent such incidents from happening again, he, along with Pasay City police chief Superintendent Eduardo de la Cerna, have suggested that a "control gate" be built, to control entrance into the said yard.

The present city jail does not meet jail standards, the warden admitted. Unlike the jails in Manila and Quezon City, the Pasay City jail is not enclosed by a perimeter fence nor is there a quadrangle that can be used as the inmates’ "sunning area."

Last March, Silva had requested the BJMP National Capital Region Office for the "urgent repair/improvement of the Pasay City jail facilities and water supply." He had particularly requested for the reinforcement of the window grills of several cells, infirmary area, chapel, and canteen, as well as the ceiling grills at the fourth floor.

"We need to reinforce the windows. Kung titingnan ninyo ang nipis ng grills (If you look, the grills are very thin). I’m also thinking of putting cyclone wire around the windows," Silva said. Silva had also requested the daily delivery of two truckloads of water as water is a problem in the jail. As a result, the most common illnesses among the inmates, Silva said, are skin diseases and diarrhea.