The Netflix Documentary recently released a documentary on Manila City Jail, describing the historic Manila jail as one of the “world’s toughest prisons.”
Running for 52 minutes, the documentary portrays the problem of overcrowding, lack of personnel, and scarcity of resources.
It also captures the agressive implementation of the drug war, which fueled the unneccesary arrests of low level drug users, and the prolonged pretrial detention caused by court inefficiencies, both factors contributing to the congestion of a facility designed for 1,200 but at that time accommodated 5,000 plus persons deprived of liberties or PDLs, as they called in the Philippines.
Two Weeks ‘In Detention’
The executive producers stayed in the facility for two weeks and interviewed PDLs and Jail officers.
They got first hand narratives from the inmates and inmate-mayores (leaders) on how they coped with their difficult conditions.
They captured how PDLs mediate their own conflicts, how they help the jail officers in maintaining cleanliness and orderliness, and how they help in food administration, teaching of their fellow inmates, and other rehabilitation needs.
Shared Governance
A common theme that emerges is “shared governance,” the informal policy of delegating responsibility to inmate leaders as a coping mechanism to the scarcity of space, personnel and resources.
The narratives of the personnel also indicated their humanistic approach in jail management — treating them as human beings and making sure they appeal to the humanity of the individuals.
There were scenes where PDLs and personnel would dance zumba together, personnel going inside the cells without any concerns for his safety and security, and the jail warden, the best warden I ever met, articulating a humanistic philosophy.
Emotional Labor
Indeed, personnel had been doing “emotional labor, ” a concept popularized by Prof. Hannah Nario-Lopez of UP Department of Sociology, where the personnel do extra work and spend personal resources to augment the needs of the jail facility.
This documentary provides a decent job of capturing the realities inside jails and prisons in the Philippines.
It shows the shared humanity of personnel and PDLs in the face of structural deficits (congestion, lack of personnel and scarcity of resources).
It shows how both the PDLs and the personnel try to establish a sense of community where everybody can be taken cared of.
It also shows how accountability and responsibility can be established by well intentioned individuals, like the warden and his staff, despite the challenges of scarcity, corruption and bureaucratic inertia.
Developmental Functions
If there is one thing that I will criticize in this otherwise great documentary, it is the continual use of the term “criminal inmate gangs.”
The documentary labeled the “pangkats” as “criminal inmate gangs,” which usually implies loaded and negative connotations.
My colleagues, Clarke Jones and Sou Lee have argued that “pangkats” should not be equally referred as “gangs” because in the Philippines, pangkats have developmental functions.
As shown in the documentary itself, the pangkats help in the food distribution, cleaning the cells, administering peace and order, teaching their fellow PDLs, and many other clerical, administrative, custodial, rehabilitative and social functions.
Indegenous Leadership
The documentary should be careful in using labels so that it will not fall to false equivalencies.
Describing the pangkats are criminal gangs perpetuates the image of violence, riots, drug use, contrabands, corruption, and other infractions.
As the documentary has shown, when jail officers properly make use of the indigenous leadership structures and provides the inmate mayores guidance on how to implement their functions properly, a community of shared governace can develop and nourish.
A Legacy
I encourage everyone to watch this documentary.
It provides a window in understanding jail and prison governance in the Philippines.
It does not shy away from capturing the problems besetting our criminal and correctional system but it also celebrates the truimph of the Filipino spirit against all the odds.
This is the legacy of Warden Randel Latoza, the best Warden the BJMP has ever produced!
Thanks Jean-Paul Caelen for bringing the Netflix Documentary team in the Manila City Jail.
PH Jail from nytimes.com