Bjmp Manual 2016
Inmates occupy every available space in this cramped cell at the Quezon City Jail (AFP Manila Bulletin) Most of detention prisoners congesting the jails supervised by the BJMP are persons facing illegal drug charges and are awaiting the court decision on their cases. The worsening jail congestion was apparently the result of President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of war against drug pushers, users and other personalities involved in illegal narcotics. COA disclosed that there are now 146,302 detainees in the country’s jails that could hold an ideal capacity of 20,653 persons.
The state audit agency said that while the detainee population grew 15 percent from the 126,946 figure in 2016, the jail system’s capacity actually shrank a bit from that year’s 20,746. The cell capacity is computed based on the ideal standards set by the BJMP Manual on Habitat, Water, Sanitation and Kitchen in Jails.
The manual said the ideal floor area per inmate is 4.7 square meters, and the maximum number of cellmates should be 10. The recorded overcrowding of jails in 2016 and 2017 was worse than the highest recorded congestion prior to Duterte’s rise to power in 2016. In 2007, COA revealed that congestion rate 2as recored at 264 percent because 59,359 detainees were brought in to cells meant for 16,314 accused offenders. IN its report, COA noted that the “number of drug-related cases in the country” as one of the reasons for the ballooning detainee population.
Bjmp Manual Of Operation Philippines
However, there were no figures revealed in the report. Audit examiners also blamed the congestion to “the court’s slow or inaction on the pending cases.” According to COA most of the detainees in various BJMP facilities “are below poverty line” who cannot afford to post bail and are therefore, stocked inside jails. ” The annual audit also recognized that “some jail buildings were constructed had limited space; hence, construction or expansions horizontally of the said buildings is not possible.” Notwithstanding the cramped up jails, COA said it still expects the BJMP to “ensure that human rights and welfare of inmates are upheld at all times.”’ The audit body urged the BJMP management to prioritize the construction of new jail buildings, scout for possible lot donations from local government units, or even convert unused office space into additional cells. It also said the BJMP should intensify the Good Conduct Time Allowance process, which provides activities such as livelihood training and alternative learning systems to take some detainees out of the cells at least for a while. IN the same report, COA revealed that have poor records of congestions are the following: Calabarzon (975 percent), Central Luzon (802 percent), Zamboanga Peninsula (789 percent), Central Visayas (775 percent), Ilocos Region (674 percent), Davao Region (650 percent), and Northern Mindanao (627 percent). Metro Manila jails registered a 572 percent increase.
Among the regions, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao reported a low detainee population which is under the normal capacity. There are 139 inmates in ARMM jails that could hold 275 persons. Reacting to the audit report, the BJMP said expansion of detention areas have become nearly impossible because of the limited space of properties allotted for jail. Aside from failing to meet the BJMP standards, auditors said conditions in the jail system did not meet the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Bjmp Manual Of Operation
According to the UN standard jails should have “minimum floor space, lighting, heating, and ventilation” requirements, as well as “climatic conditions” should be considered.
The home page of the Electronic Paralegal Learning Module, an innovative offline platform designed to help around 400 jail paralegals in the Philippines to effectively do their duties. Manila (ICRC) – The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), launched an electronic learning platform as part of its jail decongestion initiatives. The Electronic Paralegal Learning Module (EPLM) is an interactive offline learning platform containing basic legal modules and resources. It aims to support jail paralegals' continuing education and give them an electronic resource center for timely interventions to detainees. The EPLM is distributed in USB sticks that users can easily plug and play on their computers even without internet connection.
The EPLM will benefit more than 400 BJMP paralegal officers nationwide. This will help them monitor the cases of detainees undergoing trial, and coordinate with criminal justice stakeholders such as public attorneys, law enforcement, court staff and judges, among others. 'We developed this learning platform based on the challenges faced by our paralegals, which include lack of training and varying availability of resource materials in jails. By ensuring that our paralegals have all the necessary tools and resources, we will be able to capacitate them so they can help us process the inmates' cases and decongest our jails,' said Jail Director Serafin Barretto Jr., BJMP chief.
The learning platform ensures paralegals in all BJMP jails access to topics such as criminal procedure, modes of early release, time allowances, alternative dispute resolution, rights of the accused, international standards, and negotiation with justice stakeholders. Completing the modules will be mandatory for BJMP's paralegals. They will receive a certificate of completion that will be submitted to their regional offices. In addition, the EPLM provides paralegals access to national laws, BJMP manuals, paralegal manuals and examples of written interventions that would help them facilitate timely and meaningful assistance to detainees. The EPLM was pilot tested in 15 BJMP jails in Regions 3 and 4-A, involving 22 paralegals. It will be available in all BJMP jails nationwide in April 2017. The ICRC, a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, has been visiting places of detention in the Philippines after World War II.
It supports the BJMP in its efforts to improve the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees. For the past 10 years, the ICRC has been assisting the BJMP in projects aimed at providing relief to the endemic national jail congestion rate averaging at 555% as of February 2017. Jail paralegals are essential to the BJMP's initiatives to ease the congestion of jails in the country.