Neglect, procrastination, crime in our penal system

LET us just talk of the 120 bodies in various stages of deterioration found at the accredited funeral parlor of the New Bilibid Prison. There is much more than that to address but let us leave it to the authorities.

The bodies were those of prisoners who died, apparently in droves. They seem to have been neglected in both life and death. Neglect brought untimely death perhaps for reasons of inadequate medical care or deliberate snuffing out of human life. Or, due to prison conditions hastening sickness unto death. As the forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun said, the number and condition of these bodies did not speak well of the New Bilibid Prison. This is the understatement of the year.

So, here is the multiple choice question: These tucked-away dead bodies were the result of: 1) neglect; 2) procrastination; 3) crime.

All three of the above answers are correct. We have already covered neglect and crime. What is procrastination? It is the long wait, the inordinate delay, the criminal omission of not doing something about the overcrowding in the New Bilibid Prison from decades back. A facility said to have a capacity of 6,000-plus is holding 68,000-plus prisoners. In a situation like this, prisoners outnumber guards by multiples. Prison authorities cannot confront or enforce measures on prisoners in case of problems. Prisoners by their sheer number have the upper hand. That weakens proper control and management of the facility.

So, what is the sequence of events? Prison authorities and individual guards make deals with certain prisoners, usually heads of criminal gangs that have organized themselves as such for self-defense in the living hell that is the New Bilibid Prison. These become the designated leaders in the prison and with their clout as gang members can enforce rules, order, organization which the outnumbered prison guards cannot. Thus is born the surrogate guard or prison manager system.

But it does not stop there. Now there emerges the quid pro quo system between guards and prisoners. They exchange favors which eventually go from submitting to disciplinary measures or organizational steps to sub-rosa activities. Prisoners will want forbidden articles — mobile phones, laptops, liquor, prohibited visitors like prostitutes, etc. in exchange for their services in enforcement. Guards will have to deliver these requests to have their tasks shared. But it is not one way, they may get money or material goods in exchange from prisoners who somehow have the means through their ability to communicate from forbidden devices with the outside world, primarily to manage criminal activities like drug dealing or contract killing. Note that convicts from New Bilibid signed affidavits as witnesses against certain personalities accused of crimes in an obvious quid pro quo. It sounds mysterious and inexplicable but it is not. It comes from the irregular symbiotic relationship between prison authorities and prisoners.

There is much more than meets the eye going on in overcrowded jails. Prisoners have to survive their time there and guards have to do the same. Under these circumstances, survival can become so uncomfortable or boring or hellish that it devolves into lawbreaking, impunity and dehumanization for both sides. Crime becomes an ongoing factor committed by prisoners, whether inside the premises or outside the premises. Guards may actually look the other way, or worse, be involved. Under the circumstances as described, this is virtually a consequence of things as they are.

The penal system in this country is not handled with intelligence or study or the modern idea of aiming for rehabilitation rather than punishment for members of society that have broken the law.

It is not just the New Bilibid Prison that is nefarious in this way but most jails here, be they provincial, city or even juvenile delinquent detention centers. In these circumstances the government seems to be trying to save money by either allocating miserable amounts for food, medicine or medical attention, even avoiding spending for the maintenance of the physical structure of these detention centers. It is a picture of misery and neglect that one sees in our prisons. Or, if there are funds allocated for them, they are inadequate or go somewhere else — waste, graft. There is too the late receipt of funds from the lackadaisical attention or lack of urgency and importance of the needs.

Our cavalier way of recognizing (if at all) human rights has much to do with the present dismal jail conditions. I had an Indian classmate who was jailed under Indira Gandhi’s government for being an active oppositionist. I thought I would never see her again. But I did. She wrote a book about her experience and when I asked her how horrible the jail was, she surprised me by saying it was humane because there is a law in India that political prisoners should be treated within the ambit of human rights. I do not think it is the same here, or if a law like that exists, it is breached.

Penal authorities ideally should be more like educated social workers with experience in handling prisoners for rehabilitation rather than mere police personnel chosen for enforcement of discipline and punishment. The latter will not have long-term success. The former may manage to change the mindsets of convicts so as to make them aspire to be better citizens.

Treatment of prisoners should not be unduly harsh because the reaction will be equally harsh. Discipline handled evenly is not harsh because it has a rational base. Harshness is just cruelty which deforms human beings on both sides. It makes the whole detention landscape tougher and more unmanageable.

All of the above dreadful conditions in our jails need to be rectified. It is time to stop procrastination which has come about with concerned authorities and a long line of lawmakers knowing that we need more humane prison facilities but are not doing anything about it. This is a grievous sin of omission that has brought about what we have today. Add to that the need for better handling of prisoners for rehabilitation and respect for their humanity no matter what crimes they come from.

From the beginning of this administration, the Department of Justice has said it will move to provide more prison facilities so as to remove overcrowding. We hope this comes to pass, not just for the physical conditions but for the humane and just treatment of prisoners. An overhaul of the penal mindset now in place among our penal authorities for a more humane, more intelligent, more effective handling of convicts should make possible their return to society as better citizens after paying the price for their crimes.

Meanwhile, let those 120 individuals singularly tossed out in indignity and disrespect forgive those who are responsible.