COA: 67% of Philippines jails congested

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) over the perennial overcrowding of the country’s jails, more than 67 percent of which are considered “heavily congested.”

In its 2022 annual audit report on the BJMP, the COA said out of 478 jail facilities nationwide, 323 or 67.57 percent are considered heavily congested, with occupancy rate of up to 2,739 percent and congestion rate of up to 2,639 percent.

The audit body’s record showed that the 323 congested jails have a total population of 118,034 inmates as against the ideal capacity of 31,316, a discrepancy of 86,718 inmates.

The report said Region IV-A and National Capital Region have the worst overcrowding problem with 60 and 36 jail facilities, respectively, found to be heavily congested.

A total of 24,801 inmates are being held in 60 jail facilities in Region IV-A, with a capacity of only 5,237 inmates.

The COA said 36 jails in Metro Manila have a population of 29,518 inmates as against the total ideal capacity of 5,190, or a variance of 24,328 inmates.

In terms of specific jails, the COA identified the Dasmariñas city jail female dormitory in Region IV-A as the most overcrowded with maximum congestion rate of 2,639 percent, followed by the San Mateo municipal jail male dormitory in Region IV-A and the Muntinlupa City jail male dormitory, with maximum congestion rates of 2,523 percent and 2,266 percent, respectively.

“While the BJMP has been continuously professionalizing the jail services as well as providing the basic needs of inmates such as food, medicines, rehabilitation supplies, etc., congestion has always been one of the biggest challenges in carrying out its mandate in humane safekeeping and development of prisoners under its care,” the COA report read.

State auditors also noted an increase of 1.34 percent or 1,684 inmates in the country’s overall jail population, which stood at 127,031 last year from 124,347 in 2021.

The COA said the number was way above the total ideal capacity of 46,702 inmates, “resulting in unhealthy living conditions for prisoners.”