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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom