Preso: A documentary about the inmates of Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm

• Main Authors: Joco, Phoebe Danielle R., Kalaw, Angelica Ma. Beatriz F., Yutangco, Martha Beatrice B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Prisoners > Philippines > Social conditions; Prison administration > Philippines; Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (Philippines); Justice, Administration of > Philippines
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9748
• Institution: De La Salle University

Preso (prisoner) tells the story of three inmates serving their sentence in the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF), located in Occidental Mindoro. It features mayor (a prisoner turned leader of a brigada), Tatay (the oldest inmate there), and Felismino (an inmate struggling with his mental health). Their penitentiary, SPPF, is one of the seven operating prisons under the Department of Justice in the Philippines. Unlike the usual prison, the inmates residing in SPFF can roam around the area without much restrictions instead of being locked in concrete structures behind metal bars. However, despite the freedom that they possess, the inmates still have the same problems other prisoners would have. This film also takes a look into the Philippines justice system and how the inmates cope up with the struggles they encounter because of it. This thesis verifies that most, if not all, of the prisoners is at one point a victim of the country's prejudiced justice system. This documentary film was done mainly because the proponents believe that the public should be more aware of the situations of prisoners, know what the government is doing to rehabilitate them, and break the stereotypes that are being attached to convicts.