(First of Two Parts)
Recently, two pretrial detainees from the Bulacan Provincial Jail were arrested after being found outside jail premises without a court order. They were reportedly escorted by a provincial jail guard and accompanied by the wife of one of the detainees.
According to initial reports, these two individuals were “VIP inmates” who had routinely left jail without official permission. One of them is identified as a mayor or inmate leader, while the other is allegedly affiliated with the Sigue Sigue Sputnik gang. They rode in a private car and had guns found in their possession.
The incident has sparked an investigation into whether the jail warden knew about the detainees’ whereabouts.
Authorities are also probing whether the entire jail management was complicit in this practice. Alarmingly, there are even suspicions that these inmates may be involved in hired killings in Bulacan and nearby areas.
POROUS JAIL SYSTEM
In light of increasing interest on street crimes and the growing perception of a porous correctional system, this incident severely undermines efforts to reform and improve the Philippine justice system. However, before quick conclusions are drawn and blame is thrown around, several key points need to be clarified.
First, the facility in question is the Bulacan Provincial Jail, a jail under the management of the provincial government—not the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and not the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). This distinction is crucial.
While all jails and prisons face systemic challenges, provincial jails operate under a different structure, and their problems should not be generalized to include BJMP jails or BuCor prisons.
Provincial jails are particularly prone to irregularities like detainees leaving without court orders. This is because they are administered by provincial governments, and wardens and staff are usually political appointees, often chosen for their loyalty to the incumbent governor rather than their qualifications.
Unlike the BJMP and BuCor, which require six months of formal training for recruits, many staff in provincial jails receive little or no specialized correctional training.
While all jails and prisons face systemic challenges, provincial jails operate under a different structure, and their problems should not be generalized to include BJMP jails or BuCor prisons.
OUTDATED SETUP
Compounding the problem is the outdated system of inmate governance in many provincial jails. These facilities often still operate under the old mayores and pangkat systems.
In this setup, inmate leaders (nanunungkulan)—often affiliated with powerful gangs such as Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Sigue Sigue Commando, Bahala Na Gang, and Batang City Jail—help manage daily jail operations. This system evolved due to severe overcrowding and lack of personnel, and it allows inmate leaders to play a role in maintaining peace and order, conducting headcounts, and managing sanitation inside the facility.
Under normal circumstances, privileges are tolerated, as long as inmate leaders uphold order: no riots, no escapes, and no disturbances. However, as often happens, these privileges can be abused.
In some cases, guards develop close ties with inmate leaders and begin granting them unauthorized outings—to movie theaters, sabungan, weddings, or other public venues—without court orders. As long as no one complains and the inmates return to their cells, these infractions are brushed under the rug.
AN OPEN SECRET
But the moment internal rivalries emerge or the favors go too far, someone—often another inmate or disgruntled staff member—raises the alarm. This can trigger media exposés and official investigations, like in the current Bulacan case, where someone tipped the police of the practice.
Suddenly, what was once an open secret becomes a public scandal. It becomes an issue discussed and dissected by Vloggers who suddenly become experts in prison management.
(Raymund E Narag, PhD, himself was a former inmate QCJ 1995-2002.)