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”