MANILA, Philippines?The comfortable life enjoyed by wealthy men locked up in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) is by ?force of circumstance,? said a former lawmaker and prisoner.

Jose Villarosa, a former representative of Occidental Mindoro, on Friday said that because of lack of space in the regular prison cells, he was able to occupy a ?kubol??or a private hut?that had better conditions than the quarters of less fortunate inmates.

Villarosa said the construction of his kubol at the NBP maximum security compound was bankrolled by another inmate, former Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos, with the permission of Bureau of Corrections officials.

He said the congestion in the regular prison cells and the NBP?s meager budget had prompted bureau officials to allow the construction of ?separate units,? usually made of sawali.

Villarosa was sent to the NBP after a Quezon City court found him guilty of killing Michael and Paul Quintos, sons of his political rival Ricardo Quintos, in March 2006.

But the Court of Appeals subsequently overturned the ruling and acquitted Villarosa (he was not pardoned by President Macapagal-Arroyo, as earlier reported). He left the NBP in March.

?Amenities?

?Every day, someone is locked up inside the maximum security compound. So to accommodate them, new structures need to be constructed,? Villarosa said.

He said then NBP Director Vicente Vinarao allowed Jalosjos to build a number of kubol to decongest the cramped dormitories.

Villarosa said that as requested by prison officials, Jalosjos also funded the construction of ?amenities??merchandise stalls, a coffee shop, a bakery, a tennis court and a gymnasium with audio equipment worth P4 million?to allow poor inmates to make better use of their time.

He said it was also Vinarao who requested him to set up a livelihood center to help poor inmates earn an income while serving their sentence.

?The livelihood center is not a luxury. It is a form of help for our fellow inmates who spend their day merely playing cards and cara y cruz,? Villarosa said.

P80,000

Jalosjos, who was convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl, reportedly spent at least P80,000 to build a 25-square-meter room.

The room, which is adjacent to the quarters of NBP chaplain Msgr. Robert Olaguer at the back of the Our Lady of Mercy Church, was reportedly sold by Jalosjos to convicted murderer Claudio Teehankee Jr. for P100,000.

Teehankee stayed in the room for a few days after being granted clemency by Ms Arroyo.

According to Olaguer, Jalosjos ordered the room built when he became a ?living-out? prisoner after Ms Arroyo granted him clemency in August 2007.

Olaguer said the NBP had approved the construction of the room.

?I also allowed it because Jalosjos promised to use it only until his expected release in December. He said he would turn over its ownership to me,? the chaplain told the Inquirer, adding that he needed the space as extension of his quarters because he was hosting five seminarians.

When Jalosjos was brought back to the NBP maximum security compound after his pardon was called off, the room served as ?guest room? for his visitors, Olaguer said.

He said Jalosjos? son, Bullet, as well as government officials from Zamboanga, used the room whenever they came to visit.

Olaguer said he and Jalosjos split the monthly power bill averaging P3,000 because their quarters shared an electricity meter.

Special treatment

Commenting on the matter, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima on Friday said allowing wealthy inmates to set up their own quarters in the state penitentiary only highlighted social inequality.

?Why should there be special treatment [for others]? That goes against a human right norm or principle of equality and nondiscrimination,? De Lima told reporters in a press conference following the launch of the 60-day countdown to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.

Asked later on the phone whether she thought NBP officials should stop the practice, De Lima said: ?They should stop it if it?s not for everybody.?

De Lima, a lawyer by profession, said that to her knowledge, there was no law expressly prohibiting authorities from allowing inmates to build their own quarters.

But the idea that wealthy inmates stay in nice places in the NBP while the rest of the prisoners make do with what the state can offer them is unacceptable, she said, adding:

?In a perfect world, there should be one cell for one inmate. But because we are in a Third World or developing country, we can?t have that in the near future.?

De Lima said she would not object to wealthy inmates helping the NBP using their own money.

?Nothing can prevent them from improving the facilities in prison, like the sports facilities, or adding more cells or rooms, or starting livelihood [projects] for other inmates. They can do that. That is laudable, in fact. That is the primary duty of the government, but it just can?t afford it,? she said.

?What makes it objectionable is when they [build] special quarters [for themselves] while others do not [have the same],? she added.

Near-subhuman conditions

De Lima said the CHR?s ongoing monitoring of prison cells and detention facilities nationwide had shown the ?deplorable, almost subhuman? conditions of the prisoners.

These conditions include having to take turns sleeping in beds or hammocks in overcrowded cells and the lack of adequate food, she said.

De Lima said CHR teams would check the meal budget allotted for every prisoner and the kind of food served to them.

She said adequate food was everyone?s basic right. With a report from Marlon Ramos