An excerpt from...
Decrepit, congested and subhuman
By Artemio V. Panganiban |Philippine Daily Inquirer
"...ordinary accused are detained in decrepit city and provincial jails that are overcrowded by an average of 400 percent. Specifically, jail warden Elena Rocamora told the Sandiganbayan that the female dormitory in the Quezon City Jail, where prosecutors originally wanted Reyes to be detained, is crammed with 504 detainees, yet its rated capacity is only for 56; it is 800-percent overcrowded.
Elsewhere, the overcrowding is the same. The Manila City Jail, built to hold 1,000 inmates, actually houses over 5,000. It is so congested that inmates stand up most of the time, and take turns to lie down to sleep. Minors, who should be under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), are mixed with murder suspects.
Detainees sleep on the cement floor, wear uniforms of yellow T-shirts and brown pants, make do with a daily meal allowance (for breakfast, lunch and dinner) of P50, and line up for hours in communal toilet/baths.
May I stress that detainees in city and provincial jails are not convicted felons; they are put behind bars, either because they are charged with capital offenses or, more often, even though charged with bailable crimes, they are unable to produce the needed bail bond due to sheer poverty or plain ignorance of their right to bail.
The BJMP, which is under the Department of Interior and Local Government, manages the detention facilities while the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), under the Department of Justice, runs the National Penitentiary and other correctional institutions where convicts by final judgments are held.
Reforms needed. Needless to say, reforms are urgently needed to alleviate these subhuman conditions. Convicts are “luckier” than the presumed innocents because a year ago, on May 24, 2013, President Aquino signed into law Republic Act No. 10575 that upgraded the BuCor’s prison facilities, increased the number and pay of prison guards, and established the Philippine Prisons Academy to educate prisoners and guards.
To decongest the BJMP’s jails, the Supreme Court issued a resolution last May 18 limiting trials to only 180 days. (See my July 13 column for details.) In addition to the speedy implementation of this time limit, trial judges should prioritize the cases of detainees, especially of minors, who cannot post bail. Many times, they are detained longer than the prescribed penalty for the offenses they are charged with.
Of course, jail wardens should turn over minors to the DSWD and should not mix them with recidivists. They should not forget that detention prisoners are not convicts. They are detained only to ensure their presence in court (for those charged with capital offenses) or, to repeat, only for their inability to post bail bonds (for those charged with bailable crimes) due to poverty or ignorance of their right to bail.
Compelling and urgent is the need to build more and better detention facilities worthy of human dignity, remembering always that the average conviction rate of prosecutors is only about 20 percent. Thus, a vast majority of detention prisoners have a more-than-even chance of being acquitted. Yet, they are unjustly deprived of their liberty.
Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/77111/decrepit-congested-and-subhuman#ixzz39TbgIUH4
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