New warden vows to reform city jail

THE newly appointed warden of the Cebu City Jail promised to institute changes in jail management to especially address problems on illegal drugs.

Supt. Johnson Calub assumed office last  Monday, replacing Supt. Ma. Victoria Jimenez who was relieved following the escape of an inmate last  Saturday dawn and reports of the proliferation of illegal drugs inside the jail facility.

“We will have to focus on intelligence gathering kay dili man sad ta maka pataka ug inspect sa mga bisita,” he said.

Calub said he has yet to familiarize himself with city jail operations. But this early, he already received feedback that drugs inside the city jail are often brought by visitors.

He said about 900 of the 2,010 detainees are facing drug-related cases.

“Daghan pa ta ug tan-awonon sa atong pag-assume para maka-introduce ta ug adjustments.  I don’t know yet what is the ideal capacity of the city jail,” said Calub.

Calub said he wanted to match jail programs with their existing capacity of about 100 jail personnel.

He said he plans to pay his courtesy call to Mayor Michael Rama on Monday to also hear what the mayor expects from him.

From 1996 to 1999, Calub was chief custodian and chief escort at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center now known as the Cebu City Jail.

He was appointed warden of the Talisay City Jail from 2001 to 2010 and went on schooling for a year before he assumed as Cebu City Jail warden.

“During my stay in Talisay, I made their city jail the best nationwide.  It became a show window for Talisay City because even jail wardens from the National Capitol Region would visit to learn from us,” he said.

Calub said he also wants to introduce to inmates of the Cebu City Jail programs that he also implemented in Talisay City, and  use a different approach to adopt to the city jail’s environment.