Overcrowded jails, a festering problem

LONG before President Rodrigo R. Duterte became president, Philippine jails have already been congested.

International Committee on Red Cross (ICRC) Deputy Head of Delegation Wolde Gabriel Saugeron told Sun.Star Davao during their Kapehan sa Seda that although drugrelated cases added to the overcrowding of prisons because of the intensified anti-drug campaign under the Duterte administration, the problem has long been recognized.

“Maybe it has an impact [drug cases], but overcrowding was already a big problem in Philippine precincts before the new administration came to power,” Saugeron said.

The problem is not just the inflow of prisoners, the bigger problem is the slow outflow.

“The problem is not only the prison overcrowding but also the lack of capacity of the judiciary to proceed with the judicial cases as fast as it should be,” he said.

In the nine years since their monitoring started aiming to address humanitarian concerns, the organization had already been working with authorities to mitigate the congestion of jail facilities.

“We have been visiting Philippines now for many years since 2007. We are working with the authorities on the main problem

which is the overcrowding,” he added.

ICRC has visited various local precincts in Metro Manila where the biggest precincts are located including the Quezon City Jail and the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“What we are saying is that, we don’t have any data proving that the war on drugs that is waged by the authority is increasing significantly the overcrowding,” he clarified.

The group’s priority is to ensure that detainees are treated humanely and with respect for their dignity, regardless of the reasons for their detention.

Meanwhile, ICRC also supports Philippine authorities in their efforts to improve detention conditions and carries out projects to improve detainees' access to water, sanitation and health care. Aside from that, they also help in the working out with the judiciary system to expedite the cases of the prisoners.

He lauded the announcement of Department of Interior Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael 'Mike' D. Sueno to prioritize the concern over the jam-packed of prisons.

“We hope that prison overcrowding can become of course one of the priority of the government but we also are aware that there are many other problems in the Philippines that the government is facing,” he said.

One of the weakness and is recognized by the authority, he said is the need to improve the judiciary system in order to swiftly proceed with the case and came up with a necessary resolution.