The City has two reformatory institutions, the Molave Home and the Quezon City jail. The Molave Home serves as a halfway house for youth offenders. For-merly it accommodated youth offenders aged 9-18 yrs but has now been limited to 15-17 yrs. old in compli-ance with the provisions of Republic Act 9344 other-wise known as “Juvenile Justice & Welfare System Act of 2006”. A child 15 years old and below is exempted from criminal liability but would be given instead inter-vention program for his or her rehabilitation. On the other hand, the Quezon City jail can be considered as the most highly congested safekeeping institution in Metro Manila with male inmates population of 3,176 in 2007. The number of male ‘;jail has 3,191 sq.m. floor area and capable to house an ideal capacity of 800 to 900 inmates in three dormitory type buildings with only forty one (41) cells. The standard space require-ment per inmate is 3 sq.m. Based on the 1,717.75 sq.m.
floor area of existing city jail against total male inmates of 3,176 the inmate-space ratio was computed to be 1:0.54 sq.m. This means that an inmate occupies less than a sq.m. of space which way below the standard inmate-space ratio of 1:3 sq.m. The dormitories are located within Bernardo Park Bgy. Pinagkaisahan along EDSA. Basic utilities such as water supply and sewer-age facilities are inadequate resulting in unsanitary and unhealthful conditions inside the jail. The 559 female inmates are housed at Camp Karingal.
The jail is managed by 144 police officers assigned to guard the inmates and secure them during scheduled hearings. Thirty three (33) are assigned to guard the inmates (custodial personnel) and forty three (43) escorting officers. The jail had escorted during court hearings an average of 136 inmates per day. The pres-ent jail guard/custodial – inmate ratio is 1:97 which is way below the ideal ratio of 1:7, while escort-inmate present ratio is 1:4 as against the ideal 1:1. Current
shortage of jail guards is 295 and 93 more escorts.
The QC Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (TAHANAN) located in Diamond Hills Subdivision, Bgy.
Payatas offers services for the treatment of drug de-pendents. In 2007, there are a total of 204 patients (177 male & 27 female). The patients are accommo-dated into separate buildings, one for male and one for female with four rooms in each building. The center is being managed by 43 personnel.
Risks and Hazards
Flood Prone Areas
Like any other place in Metro Manila, the city is also beset with disasters foremost are flash floods and fire incidences. Identified flash flood prone areas in the city are 78 areas covering thirty five (35) barangays. Most of the flood prone areas (29) are in District I, followed by District II with 26 areas, District IV has 15 areas and District III with 3 flash flood prone areas. The recur-rence of flash floods is mainly due to overflowing of rivers and creeks and poor drainage system.(see Table DS-37)
Identified fire prone areas in 2007 are 95 areas cover-ing forty (40) barangays. Thirty two (32) of these fire prone areas are in District II particularly in Bgys. Com-monwealth and Batasan Hills where there is a huge number of informal settlers. Next is District I with 28 areas followed by District III and District IV.
The Valley Fault System traverses several baran-gays in the city specifically Bgy. Bagong Silangan and Matandang Balara in District II and Bgy. Pansol, Blue Ridge, St. Ignatius, Bagumbayan in District III.
Number of Flood and Fire Victims
Records of the Social Services and Dev’t. Department show that in 2006 there were 3,230 persons who were victims of disaster , 2,120 were flood victims and 1,110 were fire victims. In 2007, the number of fire victims tripled to 3,138 per-sons and no reported flood victims on the same year. For both types of disaster there are more female victims than male. (See Table DS-38)
Quezon City Disaster Coordinating Council
To minimize damage to properties and loss of lives and ensure quick response in times of disaster the Quezon City Disaster Coordinating Council was created by virtue of Executive order No. 12, S-1988 and amended under Executive Order No. 13 S-1993.
Eight (8) Operating Groups were organized led by various departments/offices as follows; Transportation, Rescue and Engineering, Health and Sanitation, Fire, Police and Security, Relief and Evacuation, Rehabilitation and Public Information Groups. There were also organized barangay disaster teams with the same or-ganizational framework as that of the city called Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council.
Total Percent to Total
591 971 1,562 48.36
519 1,149 1,668 51.64
1,110 2,120 3,230 100.00
1,568 -1,568 49.97
1,570 -1,570 50.03
3,138 -3,138 100.00
Type 2006
Male Female Total Male Female Total 2007 Table DS-36
Recorded and Disposed Cases; Quezon City : 2006-2007
Source : Department of Public Order & Safety, Quezon City Fire Department
3.3. Culture
In spite of its young history, Quezon City like other cities in the country has many historical spots that speak of its rich heritage. There were eight (8) histori-cal sites, foremost is the San Francisco Parish Church built in 1590 at San Francisco del Monte. Also, situated at the heart of the city and adjacent to the City Hall compound is the towering Quezon Memorial Shrine, the site of several historic occasions such as the mass officiated by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on November 29, 1970 and Pope John Paul II on February 18, 1981.
The City museum located at the base of the Quezon Memorial Shrine houses the remains of the late Presi-dent Manuel L. Quezon, aside from other memorabil-ia. Other historical spots are Gen. Fulton Monument in Barrio Bagong Silangan, where American General Lawton was actually killed by the Katipuneros and at Sitio Pugad Lawin situated on a rocky area near Proj-ect 8 where the Katipuneros led by Andres Bonifacio launched the revolution against the Spanish Colonial rule in 1896. The Cloverleaf road complex, where the Balintawak monument in honor of Bonifacio is situated is being converted into a tourist spot of the city. Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame can both be considered historical sites for being the center of the EDSA Revolu-tion last February 25, 1986.
There are also five (5) museums/art galleries, two (2) are public museum (Armed Forces Museum and Jorge Vargas Museum) and three (3) private museums namely; SSS Art Gallery, Ateneo De Manila University Art Gallery, Mowel Fund Plaza and Film Museum.
Inspired by Pres. Quezon’s vision that Quezon City shall be the seat of the national government, the city has retained its importance and distinction as the main Na-tional Government Center for it is where the historic building of the Batasang Pambansa and other national government buildings such as the Department of Social Welfare and Dev’t. (DSWD) and Civil Service Commis-sion (CSC) can be found. Other institutional buildings and offices located in the city are the Quezon City Civic C enter. Novaliches District Center, Philippine Heart Center for Asia, the Philippine Lung Center, the Na-tional Children’s Hospital, Philippine Children’s Medi-cal Center, East Avenue MediMedi-cal Center, the Atomic En-ergy Commission, Social Security System (SSS), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Quezon Institute, the Philippine Orthopedic Center, La Mesa Dam and the Balara Filters Plant. It is also where the University of the Philippines can be found which is famous for having one of the biggest university campuses in the world and the UP Oblation.
The Division of City Schools has also been very active in promoting activities that cultivate pride of the nation’s rich cultural heritage among residents as part of its on-going educational program.
The Cultural Tourism and Affairs Office and the Quezon City Performing Arts of the city government are also involved in actively enhancing and promoting culture and arts among city residents.