Freedom and Death Inside the Jail.pdf - The Action Program for ...

Firewood: The Root Causes of Problems
inmates’ food rations are not properly prepared (sometimes undercooked
but most times overcooked), served late, contain foreign objects (cockroaches,
nails, etc.), and lack nutritional value. And fourth, there is a
severe shortage of water supply so inmates are not able to take a bath
and wash their clothes regularly.
Indeed, it is the inmates’ basic condition that is causing them to easily
fall prey to viruses and bacteria. “How do you expect an inmate to
survive if he sits in a dark corner the whole day? He cannot go out of
the cell because he has no visitors. He also does not have his own bed
where he can sleep or rest. He has little food to eat. And then he would
hear news about his wife already living with another man,” laments
one of the medical coordinators.
The resident psychologist, meanwhile, laments the lack of facilities for
psychological treatment. There is no separate cell for inmates who are
mentally ill. The psychologist himself does not have a room where he
can conduct interviews and exams to inmate-patients. He has to bring
the inmates to the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong
City in order to give them confirmation examinations, which will certify
that an inmate is indeed in need of psychiatric treatment.
Even more worrisome for the resident psychologist is the absence of
licensed psychological testing materials. What he uses for the inmates
of Quezon City Jail and the other jails where he is assigned are photocopies
of the testing materials he borrowed from the National Center for
Mental Health. He can lose his license if the Psychological Association
of the Philippines finds out about this. “But I don’t have a choice,” he
says. “How am I going to go about my duties?”
But what really frustrates the psychologist is the lack of medicines
for inmates who are diagnosed mentally ill. He knows what the inmate
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