Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions were rudimentary and sometimes harsh. Provincial jails and prisons were overcrowded, lacked basic infrastructure, and provided prisoners with an inadequate diet. Jails managed by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in metropolitan Manila usually operated at about 240 percent of designed capacity. An on-going jail decongestion program by BJMP resulted in the early release, using applicable laws, of more than 3,500 inmates. BJMP’s establishment of new facilities for women inmates and its implementation of the new law on juvenile justice also contributed to the decrease in jail overcrowding from 2005.
Prison administrators budgeted a daily subsistence allowance of about $0.78 (P40) per prisoner. Prison inmates often depended on their families for food because of the insufficient subsistence allowance and the need to bribe guards to receive food rations.
The slow judicial process exacerbated the problem of overcrowding. Some inmates took turns sleeping. Some prison wardens reportedly allowed wives or children to move in with inmates or stay in the prison compound because they could help feed the prisoners. Lack of potable water and poor ventilation continued to cause health problems in jails.
On May 16, President Arroyo signed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, which, among other reforms, changed the age of criminal responsibility from nine to 15 years of age. Under the new law, children caught committing crimes are to be turned over to juvenile justice and welfare councils to be placed in programs supervised by local social welfare officers. The law also prohibits the detention of minors in jails while undergoing trial and exempts convicted minors from the death penalty.
There were reports of widespread corruption among prison guards. Guards sometimes demanded that prisoners pay to receive food, to use sanitary facilities, and to avoid beatings by other prisoners. Jail administrators reportedly delegated to senior inmates authority to maintain order. The CHR and TFDP reported that beatings by prison guards and other inmates were common but that prisoners, fearing retaliation, refused to lodge complaints. Corruption appeared to be a problem at higher levels of authority within the prison system as well. Favored inmates reportedly enjoyed access to prostitutes and drugs.
There were reports that guards abused prisoners. Women in police custody were particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical assault by police and prison officials. Victims often were afraid to report incidents (see section 5). Some detainees at Bureau of Immigration detention centers reportedly gained release by making cash payments to guards.
Through December, the BJMP recorded 27 successful prison escapes involving 52 inmates; 16 were recaptured and 36 remained at large. Police blamed the escapes on lenient security and the poor quality of detention facilities.
On February 28, the CHR released a report on a March 2005 escape attempt during which three guards were killed and which ended in the deaths of 22 inmates. The CHR concluded that the authorities used excessive force, that inmates were summarily executed, and that inmates were maltreated after a police assault. The CHR report also recommended that the Department of Justice (DOJ) create a committee to investigate and determine the criminal liability of the police units; however, by year’s end, the DOJ had not received a formal complaint from the CHR to investigate these police units.
Extrajudicial Killings, Terrorism
