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The Causes and Human Rights Implications of Over-Incarceration and Overcrowding in Detention Facilities in The Philippines
The Causes and Human Rights Implications of Over-Incarceration and Overcrowding in Detention Facilities in The Philippines
In Taguig City Jail Female Dormitory, one pregnant woman had to sleep
on the floor because of lack of deck to sleep on.
In Masbate Sub-Provincial Jail, the detainees have to stay in makeshift
dwellings, without a cell or room, due to lack of space.
In Cataingan District Jail, the cell for the female detainees is presently
being utilized as isolation room for the male detainees afflicted with
tuberculosis.
In one building at the New Bilibid Prisons, Muntinlupa City, one hundred
ninety nine (199) prisoners have to share in the use of only one (1) toilet.
Overcrowding likewise results in lack of medical personnel to attend to the
health needs of persons deprived of their liberty, and lack of medicines.
1. There is a long term plan to transfer the prisoners at the New Bilibid
Prisons to a spacious prison.
2. There is a pending bill in Congress regarding alternatives to
imprisonment.
3. The Valenzuela, Makati and Mandaluyong city governments have built
and are operating youth detention homes for children in conflict with
the law.
4. The Navotas city government has also a plan to build a youth detention
home.
But at the hub of all these efforts must be an effective crime prevention
program that addresses the root causes of offending, and a paradigm shift of the
criminal justice system, from a retributive one towards a restorative justice.