inmates’ basic needs. The limited number of facilities and corresponding capacities, as well as delays in the justice system, largely contribute to the congestion problem. Very few of the detention facilities visited could be said to have an acceptable number of detainees vis-à-vis the capacity of the facility. Only three groups of FGD participants claimed to find the size of their detention cell acceptable even as they shared an overcrowded space with their cellmates. Twenty-five inmates share the least congested cell in Region 1 with a capacity of only fifteen inmates per cell. In most of the facilities visited, single beds accommodate at least two inmates, with other inmates sleeping on the floor or in hammocks. Though information on the actual measurements of jail cells in the Philippines is not available, international standards indicate a 4.7 square meter allotment per inmate. In reality however, a majority of jail cells house at least eighty to two hundred inmates forced to share single beds, build makeshift hammocks, and sleep side-by-side on cell floors, many without mats. Due to the congestion of detention facilities, women deprived of liberty move in hot, cramped spaces and suffer the health risks brought about by overcrowding. An older WDL from Tacloban City Jail described, “Nagdadasal na lang kami na hindi na sila manghuli pa kasi magsisiksikan na talaga kami dito. Noon, umabot kami ng 112 kaya ’yung iba nagduduyan na lang. Kaming matatagal na dito, meron kaming mga bunk bed pero tinatabihan pa kami kaya dalawa na kami sa isang higaan. Labinlima lang ang kapasidad ng selda pero seventy-five kami (We just pray that they stop arresting people because if they don’t, it will be more crowded here. There was a point when we reached 112 in one cell so others just used hammocks. Detainees who have been here longer than others have bunk beds but new detainees would sleep beside us so there were two of us in one bed. The maximum capacity of our cell is only fifteen but right now, there are seventy-five of us).” In the Davao Penal Farm, a participant shared, “Congested ang space. Sa isang brigada, one hundred inmates. Dalawang tao sa isang single bed. Ang mga PWD magkakatabi sa isang kama, pati seniors (It is very congested. In one brigade, there are one hundred inmates. Two persons occupy a single bed. Persons with disability share beds with seniors).” Older women are usually given some privilege to take the lower portion of bunk beds for convenience. However, many of them still need to share 14