THE Philippines ranks third worldwide in prison overcrowding, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said, as its chief vowed to seek reforms to change this.
In his message read by undersecretary Juan Victor Llamas during the National Decongestion Summit earlier this month in Manila, DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. said the decongestion of jails nationwide was needed for an enhanced justice system.
The Philippines has 165,000 persons in jail, and this is the 11th most worldwide, the DILG said in a statement.
The DILG did not cite the source of its data, but the Global Prison Trends 2023 report indicated that jails in the Republic of Congo had an occupancy rate of over 600 percent; Haiti, 401 percent; and the Philippines, 375 percent for jails that mostly hold pre-trial detainees (as of April 2023), and 314 percent for its eight prisons holding convicts (as of February 2023).
Jail overcrowding has led to deplorable conditions for persons deprived of liberty (PDL), Abalos said, and this affects not only their health but also their well-being and reintegration into society.
Without giving a time frame for this, Abalos said reforms to address jail congestion would be legislated and adequate funds provided to support these.
During the summit, executive secretary Lucas Bersamin, representing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said the problem of jail congestion requires a whole-of-government approach to ensure the “effective and compassionate administration of justice in the country.”
Toward this end, he called on the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) to pursue the streamlining and digitalization of its services.
The JSCC is a forum for coordination and sharing of information to support planning and implementation of joint initiatives of the DILG, Supreme Court and the Department of Justice, according to the DILG.
According to the Bureau of Corrections, which manages national prisons, its eight facilities nationwide had a combined PDL population of 51,561 as of June 30, 2023 against total jail capacity of 12,251. This means an occupancy rate of 421 percent or a congestion rate of 321 percent.
The most congested was the New Bilibid Prison with a 377 percent congestion rate (30,701 PDL vs. 6,435 capacity); followed by Davao Prison and Penal Farm, 353 percent (6,788 PDL vs. 1,499 capacity); and San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, 274 percent (2,742 PDL vs. 733 capacity).
The Leyte Regional Prison had a 271 percent congestion rate (2,519 PDL vs. 679 capacity); Iwahig Prison & Penal Farm in Palawan, 265 percent (2,462 PDL vs. 675 capacity); Correctional Institute for Women (CIW)-Mandaluyong, 232 percent (3,345 PDL vs. 1,008 capacity); Sablayan Prison & Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, 147 percent (2,452 PDL vs. 994 capacity); and CIW-Mindanao in Davao del Norte, 143 percent (552 PDL vs. 227 capacity).
On the other hand, for facilities of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which detain persons awaiting trial or serving sentences of not more than three years, the congestion rate was 358 percent as of July 2023, down from 387 percent in 2022, according to the Philippine Information Agency.
Last July, BJMP jail director Ruel Rivera said of BJMP’s 479 jail facilities, 329 were still congested.
The BJMP, however, said newly completed facilities in Quezon City, Taguig City and in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur would alleviate the jail congestion problem.
Sen. Robinhood Padilla has introduced Senate Bill 235 that would mandate the Bureau of Corrections to establish and operate additional penal farms in 10 regions in the country “to decongest existing penal institutions and accommodate the increasing number of inmates committed to the agency.”
These are Regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), 5 (Bicol), 6 (Western Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 12 (Soccsksargen) and 13 (Caraga). The bill has been pending at the Senate committee level since August 2022.