Reformatory systems and the offenders
Do we really need a wider facility to address the rapid increase of jail populace?
Soon a P369M worth of a reformatory facility will rise in Wangan, Calinan District that will house 5,000 offenders. This means lawbreakers are fast multiplying and a wider facility is needed.
Do we really need a wider facility to address the rapid increase of jail populace?
If I may suggest, let us first examine the cause of the jail population increase. Is it because the law enforcers are religiously working to hook the criminals? Does the law become harsher today to doom the crooks? Or do we have a lame system to promptly dispense justice especially the penniless innocents who were locked for a long period in penitentiaries?
Other countries are closing and wrecking to ash their dungeons, vaults and chambers because of decreasing felonies to almost a negligible number.
In Brazil through APAC Method for instance, a prisoner can reduce his term in jail by reading a book of reformation. Each book read, earns him a 4-day credit to reduce his sentence. The more books he reads, the shorter his term in jail. And once he is out of prison he could start a new life inspired by the readings he had inside the facility. With this program, the possibility of committing another offense and returning to the facility is remote.
Here in the Philippines in contrast, after the offender served a sentence, he still has the nerve to do the same offense and willing to serve for another years in prison because in the first place he learned nothing from his first experience.
Had our system been riveted, we could have used the P369M funds to construct free housing for the morally upright Filipinos; provide livelihood programs; educate and feed the hungry children.
In a desperate approach, my pen in jest wish that all suspected rapists not only in the hands of Talomo Police but in all police stations throughout the country will grab a jail officer’s handgun to avoid the overpopulation in the hellish reformatory facilities. online— the proliferation of disinformation and wrong information. Disinformation, misinformation, and wrong information, or collectively known by many as ‘fake news,’ have plagued the region in recent times, threatening leaders and communities, dividing countries. Unfortunately, this plague had reached our own communities, creating chilling impact to people’s online behavior.
Since I took the helm in PIA in 2016, we have been pushing for public information advocacies that aim to drive away people responsible for spreading disinformation. We embedded in our work plans these advocacies to be able to reach out to more people in the communities and encourage them to become responsible sharers of information.
Advocating for a responsible citizenry in public information, our agency takes advantage of various channels to encourage people to dismiss disinformation. Our mother agency, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has rallied its offices and attached agencies to support and organize activities and projects that will reach out to more people in pushing for these advocacies. On the ground, PIA engages with public officials, community leaders, digital users, and ordinary townsfolk to discuss these issues. Our multi-sectoral forums, barangay forums, consultations, and community-based discussions have created key means to facilitate more inclusive and more engaging public information efforts.
In the same manner, we educate people on basic digital platform use and management including basic security and privacy settings and warn the public against “trolls” or fake accounts on social media, which are designed to mislead users and readers; we help them detect fabricated news spread even by the so-called influencers, and ward off hateful language that prevents us from achieving unity under this Presidency.
However, all these efforts would be for naught if the people do not make progress within their own homes and virtual worlds. Responsible sharing of information does not begin and end at the government’s convenience; it starts with each Filipino logging onto Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms every single day.
Verifying what we share and reading carefully before we comment will be easy for everyone if we all keep in mind that our Facebook accounts are not different personas—they reflect who we are, online and offline. If people catch us spreading nonsense and recklessly defamatory remarks online, it will make a mark on our personal interactions with friends and family, and may even affect how future employers see us when they check our online accounts.
Disinformation destroys, but truth empowers. What we share don’t just stay on our timelines; they inform opinions, influence actions and affect sentiments of the people who see our posts.
We, at PIA, will continue to commit our time and effort in creating safe spaces for the youth on social media, but every Filipino must do their part in making this happen. Let us refrain from using our social media accounts as tools for spreading hatred and lies with impunity. Instead, we use social media to build and strengthen connections that will further our goals in nation-building, and will inspire each of us to band together in the face of adversity and in the spirit of progress.