Baseline Study on the Philippine Penal Conditions: Nurturing a Human Rights Based Approach to Penal Management •······································································································································································································································· I. Introduction P ENAL MANAGEMENT is a key component of the administration of the criminal justice system. Persons deprived of their liberties (PDLs) who are either undergoing trial to face the criminal charges filed against them (also called detained inmates) or those who are serving their sentences (also called convicted inmates) are entitled to humane treatment during the period of their confinement. The Philippine government, through its different penal agencies, is mandated by national laws1 and its commitment to international treatises2 to observe human rights based standards in the treatment of its PD Ls. Managing penal institutions and agencies that meets human rights standards leads to many benefits. First, it is directly related to orderly and safe facilities. Inmates and penal staff are more likely to be respectful between and among each other translating to fewer opportunities for misunderstandings and conflicts. Second, inmates are more likely to trust penal officers which then increase the likelihood of engaging in rehabilitation activities. This eventually translates into improved chances of successful reintegration to society as responsible citizens, and thus, lessening their rates of recidivism. Third, inmates, either detained or convicted, who were treated humanely, are more likely to understand the process of incarceration and understand the nature of their punishment. This in turn increases trust in the government and in its institutions, and lowers the level of legal cynicism 3 among citizens that currently engulfs the criminal justice system. Given the benefits of human rights based treatment of PDLs, it is imperative that the Philippine government aspires to promote and protect these rights. This baseline study aims to describe the specific mechanisms on how to dutifully observe human rights based approaches to penal management. This is written for staff working directly in the management of detention centers, jails, and prisons, policy makers who are interested in ameliorating penal issues, government oversight bodies mandated to monitor the conditions of penal facilities, and Civil Society Organization (CSO) workers and volunteers engaged in providing services to PDLs. This baseline study aims to instill the importance of an integrated penal management framework that links the standards, policies, procedures, and practices of the different agencies engaged in penal work in the Philippines, specifically the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and the different Provincial Jails. Other law enforcement and security agencies like the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Bureau of Immigration (Bl), and the Armed Forces of the Phi lippines (AFP) , which also deals with their respective PDLs, are likely to find this study helpful. This baseline study provides a hard look at the current conditions of the penal facilities in the country. First, it will identify structural limitations like the inadequacy of space and facilities, insufficiency in personnel, and the lack of operational resources. Second, it will describe the organizational practices that arise as coping mechanisms to the deficiency of the structural conditions. These include the formation of the inmate mayores system, the role of the inmate Very Important Presas (VIPs) , the construction of kubols, and other See overall mandate set in Sec. 11, Art. II of the 1987 Constitution. Among others, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (1955), the Nelson Mandela Rules (2015), and the Conven· t ion against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984), which will be discussed in the succeeding section Legal cynicism refers to citizens' level of distrust to the police, courts, corrections and other governmenta l Institutions. 6