The inmate classification and housing conditions of the bureau of jail management and penology (BJMP) of aparri District Jail: A human rights based approach

Republic Act 6975 otherwise known as The Local Government Code of the Philippines is the governing law that paved the way for the creation of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). It was created replacing its forerunner, the Office of Jail Management and Penology of the defunct Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police. This study attempted to ascertain the present conditions and management of the District Jail of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology of Aparri in the province of Cagayan specifically looking into the classification and housing services by the institution on persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) more popularly known as detainees. This study utilized the one hundred seven (107) detainees, twenty-six (26) personnel and twenty-one (21) visitors as the source of the data needed in this undertaking. The descriptive correlational method of research was used (Fraenkel and Wallen 1993). The descriptive statistics was employed to summarize the mean and the weighted mean was utilized in the analysis and interpretation of the perception of the respondents as regards the different domains. For the analysis and interpretation of the perception of the respondents as regards to the different domains, the Kruskal Wallis Test and One way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used. A questionnaire was utilized to gather information from the respondents which consisted of the two domains, namely: the inmate classification domain and the housing domain. This data gathering tool was patterned from Dr. Raymund E. Narag in his study entitled “Baseline Study on the Philippine Penal Conditions in coordination with the CHR-Phils.” This study pointed out that the facilities and services specifically on the classification and housing services provided by the detention center are within the category labelled as “meeting standards”as revealed in the results of this undertaking. Thus, it is strongly recommended, by way of innovative measure and enforcement that the BJMP should device a scheme on a greater provision of the basic needs of the inmates through the inclusion of a bigger budget allocation and a mechanism for the provision on the needs of the LGBT inmates specifically on the separate housing to provide them the privacy of personal needs attendant to their sexual orientation.