We need an ‘Alcatraz’

After reading all the news about our convicts getting VIP treatments left and right, the movie, Escape from Alcatraz comes into mind.

I think our government should start thinking of building a state penitentiary in one of our islands. This is a dream of course but we need it badly. This should solve our dilemma in keeping these convicted criminals behind bars with maximum security to ensure the safety of the public.

If we are dead serious in putting all the PDAF criminals behind bars, we should start building a well-equipped penitentiary. I know that some quarters have already been prepared for the “porky pigs” who have been finally indicted. But I think those cells are too friendly and will surely allow VIP treatment again. Furthermore, the cells are not enough for the coming of the horde once our Ombudsman takes a serious and fair plunge on this issue. Not to mention other corruption cases in different government offices both local and national.

The thing is who will ever dare initiate a move to build an “Alcatraz-like” facility. I am sure no one in government will even think about it. Our officials will slack off on this thought because some of them will be the very ones using this facility. And besides if we cannot even build a decent airport what more this. If we only have strict law enforcers working for the people, I’m pretty sure corruption will cease and all those who have erred will be locked up in jail.

FBI agents, US marshalls and railway security officials manned Alcatraz during its early days of operation. Prison staff was 155 including two wardens. All were highly trained in security, but not rehabilitation. This was so because of the kind of prisoners they had to attend to. They were notorious bank robbers and murderers.

An Alcatraz-like facility in the Philippines should have the same strong force with iron hands running it. They should be trained and can come from special units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or from the Philippine National Police. Unfortunately, the AFP and PNP still needs to purge their officers to get the best men for this special unit. Whoever they are, they should not be connected with any political party.

Oh, well! In other countries special team forces do a good job in following all protocols. They are very strict and follow the same standards year in and year out. Even if the chief is replaced, the next one follows the same strict procedures and guidelines. Sadly, it is not the same in the Philippines. Susmariosep!

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In 2012, the Senate passed Senate Bill Nos. 2970 and 3335, modernizing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) respectively. The NBI modernization and reorganization bill aims to give the agency more power to help the government in its fight to reduce the incidence of criminal activities in the country.

On the other hand, the BuCor’s measure seeks to upgrade the facilities and upgrade the salary of personnel bureau. According to Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, the population of BuCor’s inmates in 1989 was 12,900 manned by 2,362 employees with a prison guard to inmate ratio of 1:27. After 20 years or in 2009, the inmate population rose to 35,400 manned by the same 2,362 employees with prison guard to inmate ratio 1:81. He said that while the population continuous to increase at an average rate of five percent annually, pegging at 35,937 as of December, 2010, BuCor has the same plantilla position of 2,362.

According to the 2010 US State Department Report on Human Rights in the Philippines, the DILG reported that its jails operate at an average of 400 percent over their designated capacity. The Quezon City Jail was built to house only 815 detainees but 3,400 inmates are there. Each prisoner has 0.28 square meter living space, way below the three-to four-square meter per person minimum standard set by the United Nations (UN) for the treatment of prisoners. The Manila City Jail, built to hold 1,000 inmates held 5,300 inmates at year’s end, while the nation’s primary prison in Muntinlupa is nearing 500 percent of its operating capacity.

Almost a year ago, PNoy signed Republic Act No.10575 or the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013 into law. It is a consolidated measure strengthening the country’s correctional system under the BuCor to further protect the basic rights of inmates. The law also seeks to reform BuCor, which will be upgraded, modernized and professionalized according to international criteria.

I hope someone up there will be good enough to think of getting a good location for a penitentiary. He or she should also think of the prison system that should facilitate punishment, retribution, expiation, deterrence, and reformation of the prisoners for the protection of society.

A report entitled, Human Rights Behind Bars: The Manila City Jail Experience, written in 2005 by Ma. Rita Arce Alfaro, a law graduate who headed the Manila City Jail Project of the Far Eastern University Legal Aid Bureau and an intern of HURIGHTS OSAKA, cited the lowly conditions of Manila City jail. There are 5,000 plus prisoners, those undergoing trial and those convicted are mixed together. Men, women, minors, people with mental illness, and those with health problems are all packed together like sardines in a can. Juvenile delinquents are mixed with adult prisoners and those with mental illness are mixed with the mentally healthy, and the physically ill with the able-bodied.

Alfaro said that this is in direct contravention of the United Nations Standard for Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (UN Minimum Rules), which provides that: The different categories of prisoners shall be kept in separate institutions or parts of institutions taking account of their sex, age, criminal record, the legal reason for their detention and the necessities of their treatment.

She described a typical dormitory at the Manila City Jail as cramped, poorly lit and with hardly any ventilation. It stinks even if cleaned and scrubbed with the harshest of disinfectants. The dormitory is blistering hot at most times of the year. Inmates fall easy prey to outbreaks of skin diseases such as boils, infections, and various allergies. Tuberculosis proliferates inside the prison walls.

The point is our present detention and correctional centers are not functional anymore. The rules and guidelines are questionable. We need a total revamp in the system. Justice must be served in the rightful way so that our country can move on.

All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.  — Sophocles, Antigone