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Philippines

Capital city — Manila

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Country-profile

Security, order, and discipline

Incidents

Number of escapes

-

  • Early 2017 has seen a series of escapes. Kidapawan prison is attacked at the beginning of January 2017. Some one hundred armed men enable 158 prisoners to escape. According to authorities, they belong to a dissident faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). One guard dies during the two-hour confrontation1.

    In February 2017, thirteen prisoners being held at a police station jail in San Fernando gain access to metal-cutting tools, and escape by sawing through the bars. They were being charged with drug-related crimes[^grills].

    [^grills]:″Thirteen escape in prison break near Manila ″ in Al Jazeera, 26 February 2017.

    1. Philippines: Massive escape after an armed attack in a prison on RFI, 4 January 2017. ↩

Individual acts of protest are recorded

yes

  • In October 2016, a protest against the director of the Quezon prison becomes a riot. The prisoners are protesting housing all drug trafficking suspects in a single dormitory. The director wants them all to participate in the same specific program that includes therapy, exercise, and spiritual activities. The prisoners climb up to the roof of one of the buildings and begin throwing things. A special team is called in to back up the guards. The riot lasts over two hours. Four guards and 35 prisoners are injured. As a consequence, prisoners’visiting rights are suspended. The plan for confinement continues as planned1.

    1. 39 injured in Manila City jail noise barrage in GMA News Online, 13 October 2016. ↩