Prison system needs reforms

Every time that gaffes in law enforcement land in the news, it has almost become cliché to suggest that an investigation must be done for which those responsible should be made accountable.

Sometimes a point is made about the need to reform the system in order to curb similar incidents that cost human lives and dignity. In the case of our prison system, such point must be raised again and again in light of recent incidents.

I am referring to the killing of alleged drug lord Steve Go inside the Mandaue City Jail, several contraband items found in the said jail, and the death of an inmate in Quezon City while in detention in connection with the police’s anti-tambay drive.

In the case of Go, it was allegedly his own gun that was used by an irate inmate to kill him. How the gun found its way into the city jail is a big question. Drugs, mobile phones, scissors, lighters, a sex toy, and even speakers and TV sets found inside the Mandaue City Jail during a raid also speak volumes about the shenanigans and ineptness in our prisons.

In a Quezon City jail, Genesis “Tisoy” Argoncillo died while in detention last Tuesday after he was arrested last week in Novaliches for not wearing a shirt outside his house. Police claim Argoncillo died from asphyxiation due to severe congestion inside the jail. However, probers reportedly found indications that the inmate was mauled.

In all three cases, investigators and officials must look into two wide gaps in the system that have become evident; the poor and overcrowded state of our jail facilities, and the lax enforcement of prison rules due either to corruption or ineptness, or both.

Regarding the poor state of our detention centers and prisons, we must wean ourselves off the view that detention while awaiting trial or serving a prison sentence will naturally come with it a worse among the worst ordeal. That our country is poor is not an excuse for allowing brutal and inhumane conditions in our prisons.

With the war on drugs too much focused on arresting small-time dealers, with no apparent breakthrough in disrupting the supply chain, the conditions in our jails have worsened. Reuters news agency has reported that the jail system in the country is at breaking point as the government’s drug war intensifies.

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, according to Reuters, counted the number of prisoners in the country, including undertrials and convicts, at 137,417 as of June 2017, “up 22 percent since Duterte took office.”

Aside from extreme overcrowding, the non-government organization PREDA listed the following problems besetting Philippine jails, citing the report of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: Infectious diseases (likely a result of cramped conditions), dirty tap water, dingy toilets, substandard meals, gang wars, poorly trained guards and prison administrators, and favoritism.

Complicating the problem further are corruption and ineptness in our jail facilities. It has almost become normal to hear reports about contraband found inside jails and how these facilities have allegedly become operational centers for trading illegal drugs.

Quite sadly at this time when criminals are wearing on people’s patience, and such collective impatience comes with it a bias for brutal crackdowns and a populist heavy-handed approach, planning and talking about real and long-term reforms is unfashionable.

I have yet to hear, for example, of a follow-through legislation to Republic Act 9263, or the “Bureau of Fire Protection and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Professionalization Act of 2004,” to address the persistent gaps in our prison system.

PREDA has recommended a number of solutions including codification of all laws, guidelines, rules and regulations pertaining to penology and correction, establishment of regional prisons and penal farms, and increased budget for hiring of more jail personnel and improvement of penal facilities.

It goes without saying that criminals are our problem and they must be dealt with firmly under the law. However, treating them like garbage and throwing them in jail under hellish conditions will only rebound to ultimately punish us later.

And if we think that deliberately killing criminals or our passive acquiescence of such evil act will lessen our crime problem, it will not. It will only make our already ailing society sicker.