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Officials said inmates at a crowded prison in the Philippines climbed onto the roof, raised fists and placards in protest — saying they were not eating well and demanding the warden be removed.
The warden was immediately suspended after a raucous demonstration by about 100 inmates, which ended peacefully Wednesday morning after they were dispersed and taken back to their cells in Pototan, Iloilo.
They face investigation and possible disciplinary action, officials added.
Photos of the rare protest, which showed prisoners standing on the roof of a building facing the prison gates, where reporters later gathered, were posted on Facebook and quickly sparked controversy in a group that owns some of the world’s prisons. The most crowded country of concern.
A placard read: “We’re hungry, the warden goes out.”
Handwritten notes thrown out by prisoners accused the authorities of insufficient meals for them and confiscated food brought by relatives, forcing them to buy meals in prison shops.
Shards of glass were found in rationed rice and rotting fish, the note said.
Prison officials have denied the allegations, which emerged in local news reports, saying inmates were given three full meals a day and there were no complaints before the protest.
Mr Sorda said a standard budget of 70 pesos (£1.06) was allocated for each of the more than 1,100 prisoners’ daily meals, including gas costs, and said officials had been looking for ways to improve conditions in nearly 500 prisons across the country .
“We don’t ignore their concerns just because they are PDLs,” said Mr Solda, using the acronym for “person deprived of liberty”.
“If they’re concerned about food, then we’ll definitely look into it and if there’s a problem, we’ll find a solution.”
He said the prison chief, whom inmates had complained about, was temporarily relieved of his duties as a result of the investigation and replaced by a police officer who recently won an award for the best prison administrator in the country, which prisoners could also accept.
Mr Solda said some inmates had opposed the transfer of them from an old and overcrowded detention facility to the new, larger prison building where the protests were being held, apparently due to stricter security measures.
Prisons in the Philippines are nearly four times their capacity, with a congestion rate of 390 percent, an improvement from 600 percent a few years ago, he said, adding that officials are continuing a plan to build more detentions facilities to ease congestion. .
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