This photo, taken on March 27, 2020, shows prison inmates sleeping and gesturing in cramped conditions in the crowded courtyard of the Quezon City jail in Manila. (File photo by MARIA TAN / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Despite efforts to decongest the country’s jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) still exceed the total ideal capacity by 403 percent.
The Commission on Audit (COA) said this was “way beyond the accepted standards” of the United Nations.
In an audit report on the BJMP, the COA said the number of inmates in the BJMP’s facilities across the country was at 115,336 as of end-2020.
This is 403 percent above the total ideal capacity of 34,893 inmates, thus affecting the BJMP’s goal of improving the condition, safekeeping, and development of inmates living in cramped cells.