Philippine Jail Condition: A Violation of Human Rights

Consider filling up a bowl with 30 fish that is only good for two. What would happen to them? They would apparently die in a matter of seconds or minutes due to exhaustion. Now, consider a prison designed for 262 inmates that the government fills with 3,095 inmates. What would happen to them? And, perhaps more importantly, do we care? The figures presented above are the total number of inmates detained in Quezon City Jail reported by ABC News in September 2017. The Quezon City Jail is one of many detention facilities in the country that do not meet the bare minimum of United Nations standards. Subhuman facilities, insufficient food, and unsanitary conditions are among the inhumane conditions mentioned in the news.

In a report published in April 2015, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) determined that overcrowding is the main culprit in police lockup cells. It found out that lockup cells it visited in several Metro Manila areas were overcrowded, some by nearly 300 percent of the intended capacity. This congestion is the primary cause of mistreatment, which usually results in increased concern.