NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – At 6 am, the morning light had barely touched the barbed wire of the Negros Occidental District Jail. Inside the male dormitory, many of the inmates sat hunched on their beds and concrete floors, stomachs growling. 

Then the noise erupted: banging on metal, shouting, clanging pots. A hunger strike began again at the prison in Barangay Tabunan, Bago City on Wednesday, December 3. The protest would last three hours, but their hunger would last far longer.

The target of their protest is Superintendent Crisyrel Awe, the jail warden whose policies they blamed for their hunger. The reason is painfully simple and cruel: inmates allegedly get only P40 a day for three meals – less than P15 per meal – far below the P70 per day the Department of Budget and Management set for each person deprived of liberty.

“Less than P15 a meal is absurd and inhumane,” said Felipe Gelle, spokesman for Human Rights Advocates for Negros, which supports the inmates.

Outside, families waved placards and called out a system that seems to have forgotten their loved ones behind bars.

With 600 inmates, the jail should spend P42,000 daily on meals. Instead, it allegedly spends only P27,000. Prison guards, according to Gelle, said the remaining P15,000 go to liquefied petroleum gas and cooks’ salaries. But for the inmates, the math is simple: neglect.

Superintendent Junevin Rey Umadhay, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in the Negros Island Region, denied allegations that the meal budget was not being fully spent at the facility.

He said the BJMP has a team conducting surprise inspections of all jails in the region and is strict about meal spending for inmates.

“Any jail warden who will be proven doing a cut on PSA will automatically be relieved,” said Umadhay, adding that BJMP regional director Chief Superintendent Brendan Fulgencio is “unforgiving” when it comes to matters like this.

He said the inmates can file complaints with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which could verify their claims against Awe.

The meal allowance issue at NOJD-Male Dormitory was also the main reason Awe was briefly relieved from his post on August 28, following a noise barrage staged by the same inmates. He was replaced by Senior Inspector Raymond Aro as interim NOJD-MD warden, but was reinstated two weeks later.

Inmates had welcomed Awe’s removal in August until Fulgencio ordered him back at the facility in mid-September. 

Umadhay said a BJMP investigation showed the accusations against Awe were false.

But Umadhay said authorities would look into the food ration at the prison facility again in response to the latest round of protests.

Aside from complaints about meals, inmates also criticized Awe for what they described as unfair policies, including humiliating visiting procedures, suspension of the Alternative Learning System and livelihood programs, excessive restrictions on outdoor time, and a lack of medical supplies despite a P15 daily budget per inmate. They said these measures added to their daily hardships.

Gelle alleged that Awe has been “vindictive” toward inmates and their visiting wives.

He said that while a Supreme Court ruling allows strip or cavity searches of women visitors if there is probable cause to believe contraband is hidden, prison authorities have been allegedly excessive and overdoing it.

Gelle said a political prisoner, Lorenzo Perolino, was particularly being targeted because he was suspected of instigating the protests.

But Umadhay said some of the accusations against Awe were recycled and untrue.

Umadhay said the unrest was apparently a result of the implementation of a cashless transaction policy inside the facility.

“Inmates really hate it,” Umadhay said.

The cashless transaction rule has been laid down to reduce corruption and other illegal activities, including gambling and drugs, in prison facilities. Based on this, even jail guards are prohibited from handling cash as part of transparency and accountability measures. – Rappler.com