Pubdate: Thu, 04 Aug 2016
Source: Philippine Star (Philippines)
Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2016
Contact:  http://www.philstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622

FILLED TO OVERFLOWING

The photographs and video footage tell the story: men, shirtless 
because of the heat, packed like sardines as they sleep in makeshift 
detention centers, or cooking their evening meal about a meter away 
from others who dip into water pails as they take a bath.

The detention areas are so cramped some inmates take turns sleeping 
on precious space. The images have become common in local jails, 
where persons who have been arrested or surrendered as part of the 
crackdown against the drug menace are held. Some are quickly freed 
for rehabilitation. Those charged with heavier offenses face a longer 
stay as they await trial and the possibility of being freed on bail.

Local jails all over the country have always been congested. The 
problem has progressively worsened as jail facilities failed to 
expand and keep up with rapid population growth and the increase in 
the crime rate. Now, with the government focusing on the war on drugs 
and criminality, all local jails are overflowing with detainees. If 
many of the thousands of suspects are convicted, the problem is 
expected to aggravate congestion in national prisons. Like local 
jails, the Bureau of Corrections has been plagued for a long time 
with inadequate prison cells.

People who support the brutal war on drugs probably won't care if 
convicts serve their sentences in crowded, vermin-infested cells with 
poor ventilation. Modern penology, however, gives as much importance 
to rehabilitation as the punishment of criminals. Rehabilitation or 
correction is best achieved in a humane prison environment.

Being held in a jail where inmates are packed nearly cheek by jowl is 
even more aggravating for the innocent who have been wrongly accused, 
especially of an offense that can put them behind bars for life. The 
war on drugs has put a harsh spotlight on the sorry state of the 
nation's detention facilities. One positive thing that should emerge 
from this war is an improvement in the state's capacity to hold, 
penalize and rehabilitate offenders.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom