A number of the participants shared experiences of verbal and physical abuse from arresting officers. An inmate from the Tagaytay City Jail reported that she had been detained for over a year without her family knowing. Another participant from the Sorsogon BJMP District Jail shared her experiences of violence: “Katulad ko po, naranasan ko po ang suntok at tadyak, at walang magawa ang kasama kong PDL. Walang nangyaring record sa araw na iyon at pinagbawalan akong lumabas, tumawag, at tumanggap ng dalaw. Sa takot ko at wala akong magawa, umiyak na lang ako. Walang ginawang aksyon kasi baka may masagasaan, mga opisyales po kasi ng dorm ang may gawa (I’ve experienced being punched and kicked, and my fellow inmates could not do anything. On that day, no incident was recorded and I was forbidden to leave my cell, make phone calls, or receive vistors. In my state of fear and helplessness, I could only cry. No action was taken because someone might get into trouble, as it’s the dorm officials who were the perpetrators.)” Very few inmates confirmed the existence of an orientation prior to prison admission. For many, rules are learned inside and these vary from one facility to another; some even depend on whether the detention personnel want to give a thorough orientation. Some facilities do not implement Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA), and in other facilities, denial of GCTA is part of the disciplinary measures. A participant from the Pasig Female Dormitory described, “Minsan po naibubuhos nila sa amin ang init ng ulo nila. ’Pag mainit ang ulo nila, ipapadlock kami. Kahit magsabi ka lang ng opinyon mo, ang tingin nila sinasagot mo sila (Sometimes, they take their anger out on us. When they’re in a bad mood, they lock us in our cells. Even if you just state an opinion, they’ll take it as though we’re talking back at them).” A participant from the Butuan City Jail noted, “Minsan nanonood lang ng TV then sabay-sabay na tumatawa dahil katatawanan naman talaga ang movie, bigla nila itong pinapatay at hindi na kami pinapanood nang matagal (Sometimes, we’d be watching TV and laughing at the funny show, when all of a sudden, they would switch the TV off and we would not be allowed to watch TV for a long time).” Another participant from the same facility mentioned, “Abusadong pananalita mula sa isang officer ng shift staff kung magreklamo kami o magtanong; nagagalit, minumura kami, minsan sinasabihan pa kaming sana hindi na makalabas ([We receive] abusive language from an officer of the shift staff when we complain or ask questions; they would get angry, curse at us, and sometimes they would say they wish we’d never get out of jail).” 24