Pimentel Alarmed over High Death Incidence in Philippine Prisons

The death penalty may have been abolished in the
country, but an increasing number of inmates in state
prisons are dying by the hundreds every year due to
other reasons.

Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr.
(PDP-Laban) said the death convicts may have been
spared from execution as a result of the repeal of the
death penalty three years ago.

But Pimentel said an average of 350 prisoners die
every year from various kinds of ailments, including
degenerative diseases due to old age.

These deaths occur in the National Penitentiary in
Muntinlupa City and various jails in the provinces
being maintained and supervised by the Bureau of
Corrections (BuCor).

Pimentel said it is appalling that while the death
penalty was repealed to give condemned criminals a
second lease on life and enable them to reform, many
of them have succumbed to ailments.

In most cases, he said the inmates contracted diseases
due to the unhygienic conditions and insufficient food
intake in prison. He said the condition of the sick
deteriorates due to poor medical care.

Pimentel also said he learned that the alarming
incidence of deaths among inmates has given rise to
another problem: that of disposing the cadavers.

“On one occasion, a team of assistants from my office
went to the morgue of the Bureau of Corrections to
find out the situation. And the report I got was they
saw a lot of cadavers not being disposed of in that
place because their families could not raise the
amount needed to bring the bodies back home,” Pimentel
said.

“To my mind, that is a situation that needs correction
in the Bureau of Corrections.”

He said he intends to propose an amendment in the
appropriation of the Department of Justice, which has
supervision over the Bureau of Corrections, under the
2008 national budget to provide funds for the proper
disposition of the remains of inmates who have died in
prison.
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