Manila jails overflow with inmates

December 05, 2008

Detainees waiting for slow courts to hear their cases languish in Manila's crowded jails. With a tremendous backlog in trial courts, suspects charged for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder are detained in congested jails across the Philippines, with cell occupancy up to five times in excess of maximum capacity. Inmates suffer from sleep depravation and are vulnerable to disease. In the Quezon City Jail, the most densely packed facility in the capital, the food budget is limited to 50 pesos (1 U.S. dollar) per inmate, and each toilet is shared by around 100 persons.