US REPORT CITES RP'S OVERCROWDED, HARSH JAILS

THE United States has criticized harsh prison conditions in the
Philippines, saying some inmates must sleep on their feet in
overcrowded cells and often go hungry on food rations worth less than
a dollar a day.

But a prison official said it was a cruel way to describe the
country's prison condition.

Justice department-run Manila jails operated at 390 percent of
designed capacity, compared to 323 percent last year, following a
crackdown on illegal drugs, the US State Department's 2005 Human
Rights Report, released in Manila Thursday, said.

"The slow judicial process exacerbated the problem of overcrowding.
Some inmates took turns sleeping, and others slept on their feet," it
said.

"Provincial jails and prisons were overcrowded, lacked basic
infrastructure, and provided prisoners with an inadequate diet."

While the justice department's Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
(BJMP) had its budget increased 16 percent to 40.85 million dollars
last year, the prisoner's daily subsistence allowance was just 73 US
cents, it said.

"Prison inmates often depended on their families for food because of
the insufficient subsistence allowance and the need to bribe guards to
receive food rations."

The food rations were so meager that "some prison wardens reportedly
allowed wives or children to move in with inmates or stay in the
prison compound because they could help feed the prisoners," while
"lack of potable water and poor ventilation continued to cause health
problems."

BJMP jails held 62,462 inmates as of October last year, while Bureau
of Corrections prisons held another 29,000 inmates, it said.

The report also cited allegations of widespread corruption among
guards who demanded "prisoners pay to receive food, to use sanitary
facilities, and to avoid beatings by other prisoners."

Human rights monitors which had free access to jails reported
"beatings by prison guards and other inmates were common but that
prisoners, fearing retaliation, refused to lodge complaints."

It added: "Women in police custody were particularly vulnerable to
sexual and physical assault by police and prison officials. Victims
often were afraid to report incidents."

It also accused higher prison officials of corruption. "Favored
inmates reportedly enjoyed access to prostitutes and drugs," it said.

"Only 232 out of 1,132 jails managed by the BJMP and [police] had
separate cells for minors, while 435 jails had separate cells for females."

The report repeated the conclusions of previous years that while the
authorities "generally maintained effective control of the security
forces," there was evidence that "some elements of the security forces
committed human rights abuses."

But Superintendent Armando Miranda lamented the report was a harsh way
to describe the country's prison condition.

Despite budgetary constraints, he said prison officials try to
introduce reforms in the country's national penitentiary.

He cited the case of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) where computerized
records ensure there will be no overstaying prisoners.

"Since we have computerized our records, there are no more overstaying
inmates and we now keep tab of those already qualified for a parole or
already set to be released because they have served their sentence,"
Miranda said.

All prisoners sentenced by the courts throughout the country are moved
to the NBP from city or municipal jails.

Miranda even said the NBP has food caterer to prepare the meals of
inmates. "Because of the caterer, the quality of food of the inmates
has improved."

The report also said the communist New People's Army, which the State
Department regards as a "foreign terrorist organization," had
"committed numerous human rights violations, including political
assassinations, kidnappings, and torture" while using children "both
as soldiers and as non-combatants."

Manila is fighting a nationwide communist insurgency as well as Muslim
separatists and Islamic militants in the south.