Jail Congestion, Problems In the Judicial System Tackled

By Ana Kristine B. Valenzuela
Printed What’s On & Expat, December 9-15, 2007 page 6

The Caloocan City Jail is congested by 1124 percent. The detention center has an ideal capacity of 136 inmates, yet the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) managed to fit in 1,665 people. The Caloocan City Jail, like other penitentiary across the Philippines is extremely overcrowded.

Jail congestion is one of the biggest problems of the BJMP. According to statistics obtained from the BJMP website, there are 20,497 inmates detained in the National Capital Region alone in a facility meant for 5,926 people.

Jail congestion or overcrowding is just one of the problems that were raised in five documentaries launched last November 23. The filmmakers, Gang Badoy, Kidlat de Guia, Lourd de Veyra, Pepe Diokno, Tado Jimenez, and Cheryl Corre focused on the everyday dilemmas that prisoners deal with such as living within a daily food budget of PhP40 per inmate and the trouble one has to undergo with the Public Attorney’s Office. The launch was attended by Supreme Court Justice Renato Puno.

Due to overcrowding, detainees, as one documentary depicted, take shifts in their sleeping routines not only because of the lack of beddings but also because of lack of space. They were considered lucky enough if they slept on the floor, even without a mat, pillow or blanket.

With the jammed jail cells, diseases, particularly skin infections are widespread.
Another problem that came up is that detention centers were built decades ago. The New Bilibid, in Muntinlupa prison was constructed in 1936 through 1939. Amenities, like toilets and sports facilities are not good enough and inadequate.

Some have the benefit of videoke machines, tennis and basketball courts; but still many do not have the advantage to separate the women and the youth from the men. Out of the 1,082 jails accounted for by the BJMP and the Philippine National Police across the country, only 336 have separate cells for female and 203 have separate cells for minor detainees. The women and underage inmates share the same space as those charged with heinous crimes such as rape, murder and drug pushing.

There are many reasons as to why the number of prisoners increase and continue to fill up the already teeming jail cells. Some blame the implementation of Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which led to the reduction in the quantity of illegal drugs bailable under RA 9165. Others say poverty and unemployment are the reasons why the detainees are unable to pay bail, among others. Another major reason is the slow disposition of cases in court.

“As it stands, there is the perception that the judicial system does not seem to operate for those who can afford to protect themselves. It is no secret that just like our country’s jails, our courts are also severely congested,” said Chief Justice Puno.

The chief justice was referring to the number of judges in the country. The country has a ratio of one judge to 45,000 people. The ideal ratio is one judge to a thousand.

“The evident truth is that the country’s penitentiary system is teeming with problems that cannot be resolved with simple, instantaneous solutions, for our criminal justice system rests on five intercontinental pillars: the police, the prosecution, the courts, the correctional system and the community,” Puno said.

There may still be hope. For the year 2007, the BJMP has been bestowed a budget of PhP3.272 billion with PhP 165 million allocated for logistics. The money set aside will hopefully allow the bureau to improve living conditions inside jail cells.

The five documentaries showed the predicament of Filipino prisoners, jail congestion, minimum amount of money for food and supplies, protracted trials, prolonged resolutions of the cases, lack of legal representation and judges and lack of opportunity to reform and rehabilitate the offender. The Asia foundation collaborated with Lawyer’s League for Liberty (LIBERTAS) and Rock Ed Philippines for these documentaries, Gang Badoy and Kidlat de Guia’s “1048:2261”, Pepe Diokno’s “Dancing for Discipline”, Lourd de Veyra’s “Buhay Looban”, Tado Jimenez’s “Dokumentado: Rock the Rehas” and Cherryl Corre’s “Sining Manlilikha sa Loob ng Preso”

Women Breadwinners: When You Make More Money Than Him

Women Breadwinners: When You Make More Money Than Him

By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

MOD August 2010

“MORE and more families think out of the box, or in a non-traditional way. It is acceptable that roles can be interchanged because of the realities of financial woes,” says Dr. Edgardo Juan Tolentino, head of the psychiatry department at the Makati Medical Center.

Today’s mothers seem to be top executives. More and more women are becoming breadwinners of their household, while the husbands play the role of caregivers to their children. “In the Philippines, to a certain extent, our society is matriarchal. That we have had two female presidents speaks of our acceptance of the woman being empowered,” Tolentino says.

Society views may have changed, but how does that affect your relationship with your man when you earn more money than him? “Always look at the value of what the other person contributes,” Dr. Tolentino advises. “To put it at a smarter perspective, money is important, but look at what both spouses contribute. Even though he (the husband) doesn’t give in as much money, he also shares something else.”

MOD COLLECTION

Factors that may have brought upon this type of relationship:

1. Changes in social standard. “There is a change in tradition,” says Dr. Tolentino. “We are now open to a different perspective as we are highly influenced by the Internet. We are able to see other models of relationships, not just the traditional.” We see marriages such as that of Julia Roberts and cameraman Danny Moder which makes us open to a type of relationship where the woman earns more.

2. Personality. “If the man is highly secure with himself and he sees the need to earn, his self esteem is not related to his earnings,” he says.

3. Migration. “The women have greater opportunities to work in other countries as nurses, or domestic helpers. That’s another factor why they have greater earning capacity than the males,” he says.

4. Intermarriages. According to Dr. Tolentino, the Spanish and American colonization and Chinese culture greatly influenced our own. Filipinos have a lot of models of different relationships to choose from.

Advantages of wives as breadwinners

1. Acceptance of switch of roles. “Roles can be interchanged. The man, as long as he is secure with himself, can be highly important even though he is not working. He can take the househusband role, managing the household chores, helping the children with their homework and driving them to school,” explains Dr. Tolentino.

2. Allows for a greater breath of expressing roles. “There is not much pressure as long as both of you and your man are secure that each one is fulfilling an important role,” Dr. Tolentino says. “If you stick to the traditional roles, the doors for cash opportunities might close.”

3. Balance of power. “In any relationship, you will always expect a power balance. Society has put too much value on who holds the purse or who holds the power. But power is something to be shared,” he says. “Even though the man is working, it is expected that he gives the money to the woman. So when there is a reversal of roles, she also gets to budget. It’s not untraditional. It is always the woman who budgets and decides on how to spend it. But today, there are some models, in which the woman shares with the househusband the budgeting. She has the option to modify the expenditures.”

Disadvantages of wives as breadwinners

1. External pressure. “This could be because of the cultural and traditional values of the family,” he says. The man may feel powerless because he is earning less.

2. Internal Pressure “If there are personality problems, like the man is insecure or the woman is domineering, the wife may ask questions like, ‘Why am I the one working? Why am I the one bringing home the bacon?’” he explains.