EDITORIAL - Jailbreak for a cause

In the typhoon-damaged provincial jail in Palo, Leyte, the tarpaulin used as temporary roofing could not have prevented any inmate from escaping. But after Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the province, the jail was apparently one of the few places in Palo where a steady supply of food, water and other basic necessities could be obtained. No one bothered escaping from the jail.

Until the other day, when the food supply must have run out. Reports said hunger drove 182 inmates to leave the jail. The escapees did not bother climbing out through the roof. By most accounts, they simply walked out. Many apparently just intended to forage for food in the ruined town and were quickly found by jail guards. But some of the inmates reportedly joined the walkout to dramatize grievances against the criminal justice system, notably their long wait for the resolution of their cases.

Even petty crimes take years to resolve in Palo, according to one account. The wait could become longer after court records – and court facilities – were destroyed by Yolanda. Judicial authorities in charge of these matters must look into the status of cases in Eastern Visayas and Mindanao that have been ravaged since late 2012 by typhoons, cataclysmic flooding and a powerful earthquake.

Justice delayed is justice denied. The gravest injustice is suffered by those who are wrongly accused and detained in facilities such as the one in Palo. Surely there are ways for judicial authorities to minimize the delays in court proceedings in the disaster zones.

At the same time, the government must improve detention facilities in the disaster areas to prevent more mass jailbreaks. Not all inmates are innocent or merely driven to petty crimes by poverty. A number of those inmates are accused of serious crimes, and they have victims who are crying for justice. It is an injustice for these victims to see the accused literally walk to freedom.

Government resources are stretched thin in the disaster areas. Rebuilding detention centers and providing decent supplies for inmates may not be a priority in the reconstruction effort. If the Leyte jail cannot keep inmates detained, they can be transferred temporarily to more secure facilities. At the same time, judicial authorities must work on reconstructing records destroyed by the typhoon. Some cases may have to be written off as hopelessly lost, but this will still be better than keeping the cases in limbo.