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Philippines The Correctional System
In the late 1980s, institutions for the confinement of
convicts and the detention of those awaiting trial included a
variety of national prisons and penal farms as well as numerous
small local jails and lockups. In general, the national prisons
housed more serious offenders, and those serving short-term
sentences were held in local facilities. The prison system at the
national level was supervised by the Bureau of Prisons of the
Department of Justice. The bureau was responsible for the
safekeeping of prisoners and their rehabilitation through general
and moral education and technical training in industry and
agriculture. The bureau also oversaw the operation of prison
agro-industries and the production of food commodities. In 1991
the newly formed Philippine National Police took over
administration of local jails.
The government maintained six correctional institutions and
penal farms. The nation's largest prison was the National
Penitentiary at Muntinlupa, Rizal Province, near Manila, which
also operated the Manila City Jail. The penitentiary served as
the central facility for those sentenced to life imprisonment or
long-term incarceration. It was divided into two camps to
separate those serving maximum and minimum penalties. The
Correctional Institution for Women was located in Metropolitan
Manila. Combination prison and penal farms also were located in
Zamboanga City, and in Palawan, Mindoro Occidental, and in
several Mindanao provinces. Prison conditions in the Philippines
were generally poor, and prison life was harsh.
Some prison inmates were eligible for parole and probation.
Before serving their sentence, felons, who were not charged with
subversion or insurgency, or had not been on probation before,
could apply for probation. Probationers were required to meet
with their parole officers monthly, to avoid any further offense,
and to comply with all other court-imposed conditions. After
serving an established minimum sentence, certain prisoners could
apply to their parole board for release. The board could also
recommend pardon to the president for prisoners it believed to
have reformed and who presented no menace to society.
In 1991 crime still was a serious, if somewhat reduced,
threat to the general peace and security of society and was
aggravated by corruption in the police and court systems. The
politicization of the military was seen as a long-term problem
and the threat of a military coup remained significant. The
threat of a CPP-led takeover seemed to be receding as NPA
guerrilla strength ebbed. The socioeconomic roots of the
revolutionary movement remained and promised to make the
insurgency a problem for some time to come, despite its slow
decline. The government also recognized the continuing threat
posed by well-armed Filipino Muslim rebels, although few feared a
near-term resurgent Moro uprising. External security threats were
not perceived.
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A series of well-researched books published in the late 1980s
added immensely to the available body of work on the Philippine
communist insurgency. William Chapman's Inside the Philippine
Revolution offers unique insights on the revolutionary
movement. Richard Kessler's Rebellion and Repression in the
Philippines provides a thorough review of the insurgency,
especially its social and cultural roots. Gregg Jones's Red
Revolution combines discussions of the CPP's historical
development with revealing interviews with communist leaders and
first-hand reports on guerrilla commanders and political cadres
in the field. Although predictably dogmatic, books by CPP founder
Jose Maria Sison--Philippine Society and Revolution and
The Philippine Revolution--present the theoretical
underpinnings of the insurgency (the former appears under his nom
de guerre, Amado Guerrero). Annual updates on the progress of the
communist movement can be found in the Yearbook on
International Communist Affairs.
Comprehensive studies of the Philippine military are few.
Richard Kessler's Rebellion and Repression in the
Philippines provides the most thorough examination of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines and their strengths and
weaknesses. The history of Philippine civil-military relations is
explored by two doctoral dissertations: Donald L. Berlin's
"Prelude to Martial Law" and Carolina Hernandez's "The Extent of
Civilian Control of the Military in the Philippines." More
current information on the military's role in politics can be
found in the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asian Defence
Journal, and Pacific Defence Reporter.
Standard references on military capabilities include annual
editions of The Military Balance, prepared by the
International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the United
States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency's World Military
Expenditures and Arms Transfers. Jane's Infantry
Weapons, Jane's Armour and Artillery, Jane's All
the World's Aircraft, and Jane's Fighting Ships also
are useful. The military's human rights performance is reviewed
annually by the Amnesty International Report and by the
United States Department of State's Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices. (For further information and complete
citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of June 1991
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