Is Death Penalty a Solution to Overcrowding Prison Facilities?
06/05/2015 – Muntinlupa City | Prisons facilities in the Philippines are among the most crowded and congested prisons in the world according to UN. The United Nations torture prevention body has called on the Philippine government to address the problem on detention facilities in the country and implement a law on how to safeguard the rights of the prisoners.
The Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) on Wednesday urged the government to look into the recommendations provided by the body’s six-member delegation that inspected various prisons during a recently concluded fact-finding mission in the country.
Among the group’s recommendation are “to deal urgently with prison overcrowding and improve independent monitoring of places of detention to protect people deprived of their liberty against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
“We hope, and expect, that the government of the Philippines will use our report to improve the conditions of people deprived of their liberty, in particular by dealing with the chronic problem of overcrowding in places of detention,” said Suzanne Jabbour, who headed the SPT delegation.
“An effective, independent and well-resourced National Preventive Mechanism will be crucial to prevent torture and ill-treatment and to improve conditions of detention through a system of regular visits,” Jabbour said.
Recently, news about an alleged scandal inside the New Bilibid prison broke-out resulting to the dismissal of BuCor top officials. Bilibid Prison is the biggest and most populated prison facility in the country. News about illegal drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other prohibited activities inside the prison were rampant according to witnesses.
While the UN urges the government to acknowledge the prisoners’ rights, more and more Filipinos are leaning towards implementing the death penalty as a solution to ease the overcrowding prison facilities.
“The Philippine government is spending billions of pesos every year to house and feed these useless people. What is the point? The moment they’ll be free after serving their prison time, they’ll do the same crime again. Life outside prison after 15 to 20 years is lonely. They have to make way in order to go back to prison and to have a free food, free lodging, free everything,” Atty. Sammy Zabala, a political activist who support the implementation of death penalty said.
“The Philippines has more than 100 million population and thousands of these are living inside prison facilities. Prisoners are lucky. They have concrete house, free food, free lodging, free gym, and free health benefits, free of everything. Can you think of any better life than a prisoner? Death penalty should be implemented in order to lessen the government budget being feed to these criminals”, Victor Ochoa, another supporter of death penalty from labor organization told TPP.
Should the Philippines really need to implement the Capital Punishment?
Reynaldo Prado, an excon who served twenty four years in Bilibid Prison for double murder said life inside the prison is far better than his life after his release. There was no problem with money and although regulated, everything is available.
“I entered prison when I was 18 year old and left at 42. I lost more than half of my life and my whole future so what can I do? It’s better to be dead than living the rest of your life like garbage,” Prado said.
Police data shows most members of organized crime groups are excons and police and military officers who were fired. Death penalty can eliminate this problem if implemented according to a police officer from Mandaluyong who refused to identify himself.
The Philippines can save billions of pesos in BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) budget if death penalty is implemented today. Aside from this, the country will be safer because criminals will not be given second chances.
There are thousands of people inside prison facilities who deserve death penalty while living better than most ordinary Filipinos. And they live free of everything while doing nothing.
/Jojit Corpuz/ Assisted Press Sta. Rosa City
