Same punishment, different conditions

Meryll Jane Jumalon

In a society where justice can be manipulated by influence and power, incarceration can feel like two differing sides of a spectrum. While the political elite can easily seek excuses and certain privileges, regular inmates that are detained while awaiting trial are all cramped into facilities overflowing beyond its intended capacity.

Every convicted person, regardless of their standing in society, must be treated the same. A convicted politician must face the same circumstances that a regular person deprived of liberty (PDL) faces. But former Senator Bong Revilla’s cell in the New Quezon City Jail Male’s Dormitory shows otherwise, as seen in a photo by the Daily Tribune.

While thousands of inmates in several jails across the country survive in inhumane conditions and a 200% to 300% overcrowding rate, the political elite get to enjoy comfortable, decent cells. In its 2024 report, the Commission on Audit (COA) found that 336 out of 484 jail facilities or 69.42% of jail facilities are congested nationwide. Despite the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)’s denial of giving special treatment to political convicts, it is unjust that a cell made for 50 is cramped with 200 regular inmates while a single politician gets to enjoy a more bearable cell with fewer inmates to share it with.

Moreover, a 2019 article by the Inquirer found that about 20% of inmates die annually in the New Bilibid Prison, or about 5,200 inmates of 26,000 incarcerated, with the deaths largely due to pulmonary tuberculosis, a preventable disease, brought by overcrowding and humid conditions. As regular PDLs barely receive prompt and proper medical assistance, Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada merely uses medical excuses across all his three plunder cases to skip trials and evade proper prison sentences.

When a senator faced with a 75 million peso plunder charge is arrested, it is deemed as “selective justice.” Senator Rodante Marcoleta will be committed to the New Quezon City Jail, sharing the same circumstances as Sen. Revilla and Sen. Estrada. But for these senators, justice looks different for them compared to regular inmates as they get to be in more humane cells. Yes, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) sect was right about selective justice, but made it about the wrong subject. 

Indeed, the contrast between regular PDLs and convicted politicians is daunting. They all go through some level of punishment, but this punishment looks different depending on who they are and the influence that they bear. Clearly, inhumane and harsh prison conditions are due to a lack of proper justice. Prisons are overcrowded largely due to detained citizens awaiting trial, with the Duterte administration’s War on Drugs playing a significant role in the rise of prison populations. 

The government should continually make efforts to amend the Philippine prison system. If it can provide proper facilities to the political elite, it should also provide the same circumstances for all inmates.