The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday said the government must provide clean, safe, and properly equipped detention facilities for arrested individuals.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr., the SC’s Second Division urged government agencies to urgently improve jail conditions. It warned that if these agencies continue to fail, it will step in to protect the rights of detainees when properly asked to do so.
“It does not escape the Court that the improvement of penal facilities may be restricted by a budget which only the Congress can provide and which the Court cannot compel to allocate. This budgetary constraint, however, does not mean that the inmates or detainees in prison or jail are not entitled to their right to live a decent life when in penal facilities,” the High Tribunal said in the case of CHR vs. Ombudsman.
It added that the SC can still grant some form of relief to the detainees or prisoners therein, as the ultimate guardian of the Constitution.
While underscoring that poor jail conditions must still be addressed, the SC acknowledged the budget limitations faced by the police officers but emphasized that detainees still have basic rights under the law, including the right to decent living conditions while in custody.
It also reminded the police that even temporary holding areas — used during an investigation — must be clean, sanitary, and properly maintained.
Meanwhile, in his dissenting opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen held that the CHR’s visit revealed the actual conditions of a secret detention cell and that the poor conditions may amount to cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment.