Decode: How cramped are Philippine jails?

IT’S no secret that Philippine jails and detention centers are packed wall to wall with people.

This was why President Marcos ordered the release of more persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), particularly those eligible for parole.

Marcos said he wanted to reduce overcrowding in the facilities. He also said that many of the PDLs are behind bars because they could not afford the services of good lawyers. 

Just how cramped is it in Philippine prisons?

Like sardines

Those convicted of crimes are housed in facilities too small to comfortably contain all of them. 

Imagine a space for 6,400 individuals housing more than 29,000 persons. That is the condition at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), which is the largest facility for convicts.

As of November 2022, the NBP housed 29,417 inmates in spaces designed to hold only 6,435, according to the Bureau of Corrections. 

This is a 457 percent occupancy rate and a 357 percent congestion rate, it said.

Other facilities under the BuCor are overcrowded as well and are housing more than double their capacities, figures show.

The 50,226 PDLs who are under the care of the BuCor are crammed into spaces designed for 12,145.

The overall occupancy rate is 414 percent, and the congestion rate is 314 percent. 

Bureau of Corrections data show how cramped it is in its facilities

Too few facilities

The Commission on Audit, in its report released last year, noted that the BuCor’s P985 million infrastructure projects meant to decongest the country’s prisons failed to be completed on time.

These consist of the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of regional prison facilities of the bureau in Palawan, Davao, Leyte, Zamboanga, and the Correctional Institute for Women. 

“In view of the delays in the completion of the foregoing projects, the issues on the congestion of detained PDLs in the respective penal farms were not addressed,” it said.

Trials and sufferings

Detainees still on trial have it bad as well. 

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said 338 of its 477 facilities, which mostly hold those undergoing trial, are congested as of September 2022. 

The average congestion rate in the 338 facilities is 370 percent. This means there are five PDLs in every 4.7 square meters.

The congestion rate is higher in Metro Manila, which is 638 percent. It has eight PDLs in a 4.7 square meter cell.

The highest congestion rate is 2,720 percent, or 28 PDLs occupying a 4.7 square meter area. This is at the Dasmariñas Female Dormitory. 

The COA, in its 2021 report on the BJMP, said the congestion and occupancy rate in the facilities fail to conform with the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

They do not conform as well to the BJMP Manual on Habitat, Water, Sanitation and Kitchen in Jails.

These result in “unhealthy living conditions” of the PDLs, it said. 

Rights of detainees

The UN’s rules for the treatment of prisoners, also called the Nelson Mandela Rules, lay down basic principles for the treatment of people who are detained.

The rules state, among others, that all accommodation provided for the use of prisoners and in particular sleeping accommodation shall meet all requirements of health. 

It also states that due regard must be paid to climatic conditions. These refer to the amount of air, minimum floor space, lighting, heating and ventilation.  

All prisoners shall be treated with respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings, it says.

They shall be protected from torture and other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment, it adds.

Banner photo credit: PNA