Hungry Iloilo Prisoners and Ugly Conditions in PH Jails
Iloilo prisoners in District Jail in Pototan town remained on building’s rooftop for about nine hours in an effort to protest against their jail warden.
More than 100 prisoners shouted this in protest of what they claimed was a lack of food and meals of low quality while scaling the roof of the Iloilo District Jail in the village of Nanga, Pototan town, Iloilo province.
Jail Senior Inspector Norberto Miciano Jr., the head of the detention facility, was fired by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Western Visayas as a result of the eight-hour protest.
“For us to conduct an investigation thoroughly, we have to remove him so as not to influence [the investigation],” Clint Russel Tangeres, Jail Chief Superintendent said.
According to the report of Inquirer.Net that the detainees protested the shortage of food and its poor quality, as well as the reported unwillingness of jail officials to accept food provided by inmates’ relatives and the “overpriced” food being sold by an inside-the-jail cooperative.
The conditions of the inmates in Pototan, Iloilo are a “microcosm” of prison conditions nationwide, according to the prisoners’ rights organization Kapatid. The report mentioned that, It emphasized that hunger is a reality in jails across the Philippines and it is not because of lack of food, but rather because of oppressive jail policies.
In order to draw attention to “oppressive practices that drive hunger in jails and to assess the jail cooperative system that is part of the problem and therefore cannot be the solution,” it stated it would seek a dialogue with the BJMP.
The government should look into the “worsening” jail conditions in the Philippines, which go against the United Nations’ (UN) Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, according to Kapatid spokeswoman Fides Lim.
Every prisoner “must be provided by the prison administration at the customary hours with food of nutritional content appropriate for health and strength well cooked and served,” according to Rule 22 of the UN Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
You may also visit: BJMP Reports 90% Recovery From COVID-19 Amongst Prisoners
