Mario Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines&#39; most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime.&nbsp; 
 
Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society.&nbsp; 
 
Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan&nbsp;(name changed)&nbsp;has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It&#39;s so crowded. Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone,&quot; Dimaculangan said in one of the jail&#39;s packed hallways that reeked of sweat.&nbsp; 
 
There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out. When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in decaying concrete buildings up to four storeys high.&nbsp; 
 
The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and five pesos (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat.&nbsp; 
 
Pails of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal.&nbsp; 
 
Unthinkable conditions&nbsp; 
 
The jail&#39;s management does what it can to make life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities. Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programmes.&nbsp; 
 
But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations. &quot;If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation,&quot; Narag said.&nbsp; 
 
The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, according to the University of London&#39;s Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data. And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly.&nbsp; 
 
Under Duterte&#39;s crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30. Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state.&nbsp; 
 
The population of Quezon City Jail, which houses inmates in a northern district of the Philippine capital who are on trial but not yet convicted, has grown by 300 since Duterte won May elections.&nbsp; 
 
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said government was preparing locations for new prisons while courts have been ordered to prioritise the expected deluge of drug cases.&nbsp; 
 
But Duterte has said little about far-reaching reforms needed to fix the systemic problem of overcrowding. &quot;If there are no new jails, no budget increases, no additional courts and prosecutors, the system will explode. That will be a humanitarian crisis,&quot; said Narag, the scholar who speaks from harrowing personal experience.&nbsp; 
 
Justice delayed&nbsp; 
 
Narag, 41, was locked up in Quezon City Jail in 1995 as a 20-year-old after being accused of killing a student from a rival college fraternity. It took seven years for a court to acquit him, which is about the average length of a trial in the Philippines and one of the main drivers of the overcrowding problem. Dimaculangan is the longest-serving inmate in Quezon City Jail, after being charged with killing a politician&#39;s relative in 2001.&nbsp; 
 
Dimaculangan insists he has a &quot;clear conscience&quot; but cannot get a chance to prove his innocence in court, averaging just one trial hearing a year in a chaotic judicial system notorious for its lack of judges, publicly funded lawyers and court rooms.&nbsp; 
 
Dimaculangan said his spirits used to rise when he was informed of a date for a court hearing, but he had been disappointed too many times with cancellations or postponements. &quot;Now when they say I have a hearing, I don&#39;t care anymore,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
With no hopes of freedom, Dimaculangan said he had turned to his Catholic faith and values. &quot;My purpose is to help my fellow detainees,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;God did not send me here because I am a thief. There are many thieves out there but how come they are not in jail?&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

After President Duterte's crackdown on drugs, security forces have detained thousands in just one month

Mario Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines' most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime. Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society. Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan (name changed) has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on. "Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It's so crowded. Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone," Dimaculangan said in one of the jail's packed hallways that reeked of sweat. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out. When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in decaying concrete buildings up to four storeys high. The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and five pesos (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat. Pails of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal. Unthinkable conditions The jail's management does what it can to make life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities. Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programmes. But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations. "If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation," Narag said. The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data. And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly. Under Duterte's crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30. Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state. The population of Quezon City Jail, which houses inmates in a northern district of the Philippine capital who are on trial but not yet convicted, has grown by 300 since Duterte won May elections. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said government was preparing locations for new prisons while courts have been ordered to prioritise the expected deluge of drug cases. But Duterte has said little about far-reaching reforms needed to fix the systemic problem of overcrowding. "If there are no new jails, no budget increases, no additional courts and prosecutors, the system will explode. That will be a humanitarian crisis," said Narag, the scholar who speaks from harrowing personal experience. Justice delayed Narag, 41, was locked up in Quezon City Jail in 1995 as a 20-year-old after being accused of killing a student from a rival college fraternity. It took seven years for a court to acquit him, which is about the average length of a trial in the Philippines and one of the main drivers of the overcrowding problem. Dimaculangan is the longest-serving inmate in Quezon City Jail, after being charged with killing a politician's relative in 2001. Dimaculangan insists he has a "clear conscience" but cannot get a chance to prove his innocence in court, averaging just one trial hearing a year in a chaotic judicial system notorious for its lack of judges, publicly funded lawyers and court rooms. Dimaculangan said his spirits used to rise when he was informed of a date for a court hearing, but he had been disappointed too many times with cancellations or postponements. "Now when they say I have a hearing, I don't care anymore," he said. With no hopes of freedom, Dimaculangan said he had turned to his Catholic faith and values. "My purpose is to help my fellow detainees," he said. "God did not send me here because I am a thief. There are many thieves out there but how come they are not in jail?" (AFP)

1 toilet for 130 inmates: A harrowing tale of Philippine's overcrowded jails

Philippine government forces fought hundreds of Islamic militants on two remote islands today, with the military aircraft-backed campaign leaving up to 10 people dead, the army said. 
 
The gun battles on the southern islands of Jolo and Basilan followed orders by new President Rodrigo Duterte for the security services to go after the Abu Sayyaf, which recently beheaded two foreign hostages and is also blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history. 
 
The fighting was continuing late today with more troops being rushed in, backed by military aircraft and artillery, regional military spokesman Major Filemon Tan told reporters. 
 
&quot;Continuous indirect fire support and air strikes are being done and additional troops were deployed,&quot; he added without giving details. 
 
Army troops hunting down Abu Sayyaf units clashed with about 130 of the gunmen near the Jolo town of Patikul, killing a soldier and wounding six others, Tan said. 
 
Military intelligence reports later determined that nine Abu Sayyaf members were also killed and 13 others wounded, he added. 
 
Meanwhile up to 200 Abu Sayyaf gunmen have been fighting running gun battles with government forces in three Basilan towns since late Wednesday, Tan said, but did not say if there were casualties. 
 
The Jolo militants are believed to be holding a Norwegian resort manager abducted elsewhere in the south in September last year and a Dutch birdwatcher kidnapped in 2012. 
 
Tan did not reply when asked about the impact of the fighting on the hostages. 
 
The Abu Sayyaf beheaded in April and June two Canadian tourists who were kidnapped along with the Norwegian, while a Filipina who was abducted with them was freed last month. 
 
The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of a few hundred Islamic militants, formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden&#39;s Al-Qaeda network, that has earned millions of dollars from kidnappings-for-ransom. 
 
Although its leaders have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, analysts say they are mainly focused on lucrative kidnappings. 
 
Last month, as Duterte prepared to assume office after winning the May presidential elections by landslide on a law and order platform, he ordered the military defeat the Abu Sayyaf. 
 
&quot;Our first priority is the Abu Sayyaf because that is the order of our new president: address the Abu Sayyaf immediately so we can neutralise them,&quot; Delfin Lorenzana told reporters before he was sworn in as defence secretary. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered security services to go after Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant network formed in 1990 that beheaded two foreign hostages

Philippine government forces fought hundreds of Islamic militants on two remote islands today, with the military aircraft-backed campaign leaving up to 10 people dead, the army said. The gun battles on the southern islands of Jolo and Basilan followed orders by new President Rodrigo Duterte for the security services to go after the Abu Sayyaf, which recently beheaded two foreign hostages and is also blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history. The fighting was continuing late today with more troops being rushed in, backed by military aircraft and artillery, regional military spokesman Major Filemon Tan told reporters. "Continuous indirect fire support and air strikes are being done and additional troops were deployed," he added without giving details. Army troops hunting down Abu Sayyaf units clashed with about 130 of the gunmen near the Jolo town of Patikul, killing a soldier and wounding six others, Tan said. Military intelligence reports later determined that nine Abu Sayyaf members were also killed and 13 others wounded, he added. Meanwhile up to 200 Abu Sayyaf gunmen have been fighting running gun battles with government forces in three Basilan towns since late Wednesday, Tan said, but did not say if there were casualties. The Jolo militants are believed to be holding a Norwegian resort manager abducted elsewhere in the south in September last year and a Dutch birdwatcher kidnapped in 2012. Tan did not reply when asked about the impact of the fighting on the hostages. The Abu Sayyaf beheaded in April and June two Canadian tourists who were kidnapped along with the Norwegian, while a Filipina who was abducted with them was freed last month. The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of a few hundred Islamic militants, formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, that has earned millions of dollars from kidnappings-for-ransom. Although its leaders have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, analysts say they are mainly focused on lucrative kidnappings. Last month, as Duterte prepared to assume office after winning the May presidential elections by landslide on a law and order platform, he ordered the military defeat the Abu Sayyaf. "Our first priority is the Abu Sayyaf because that is the order of our new president: address the Abu Sayyaf immediately so we can neutralise them," Delfin Lorenzana told reporters before he was sworn in as defence secretary. (Reuters)

Philippine army: 10 dead in clashes with islamic militants

Philippine security forces killed 54 Islamist militants linked to the Jemaah Islamiah group in a week-long air and ground offensive in the country&#39;s south, an army spokesman said today.The fighting took place near the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with the government in 2014 to end 45 years of conflict that killed 120,000 people and stunted growth in the resource-rich areas.

Major Filemon Tan said two soldiers were killed and nine wounded after air force planes dropped bombs on the militants&#39; positions and ground troops pounded them with artillery fire&nbsp;in the town of Butig in Lanao del Sur.

&quot;The artillery fire did more damage than the bombs,&quot; Tan added. &quot;Our troops saw the enemies fall and, based on estimates, we killed 54. They beheaded two sawmill workers and toppled a ppwer line in the area.&quot;

The fighting has displaced about 2,000 people from five villages in Butig, regional officials said.

About a decade ago, the MILF had expelled Jemaah Islamiah members from the area in preparation for peace talks brokered by Malaysia, and avoid getting a &quot;terrorist&quot; tag from the U.S. State Department.

The military said Jemaah Islamiah-linked militants returned to the area when a law to grant autonomy to Muslim areas, under the government deal with the MILF, failed to pass in Congress.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has promised to pursue peace with Muslim rebels, proposing a new federal scheme to grant more political and economic powers to Muslim-dominated areas in the south.

Two soldiers have been killed, and nine have been injured after air force planes dropped bombs in Butig. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had expelled Jemaah Islamiah--a Southeast Asian militant Islamist terrorist group--from the area about a decade ago to avoid getting branded a 'terrorist' by the U.S.

Philippine security forces killed 54 Islamist militants linked to the Jemaah Islamiah group in a week-long air and ground offensive in the country's south, an army spokesman said today.The fighting took place near the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with the government in 2014 to end 45 years of conflict that killed 120,000 people and stunted growth in the resource-rich areas. Major Filemon Tan said two soldiers were killed and nine wounded after air force planes dropped bombs on the militants' positions and ground troops pounded them with artillery fire in the town of Butig in Lanao del Sur. "The artillery fire did more damage than the bombs," Tan added. "Our troops saw the enemies fall and, based on estimates, we killed 54. They beheaded two sawmill workers and toppled a ppwer line in the area." The fighting has displaced about 2,000 people from five villages in Butig, regional officials said. About a decade ago, the MILF had expelled Jemaah Islamiah members from the area in preparation for peace talks brokered by Malaysia, and avoid getting a "terrorist" tag from the U.S. State Department. The military said Jemaah Islamiah-linked militants returned to the area when a law to grant autonomy to Muslim areas, under the government deal with the MILF, failed to pass in Congress. President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has promised to pursue peace with Muslim rebels, proposing a new federal scheme to grant more political and economic powers to Muslim-dominated areas in the south.

Philippine troops kill 54 Islamist militants in the south

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