Bilangan sa Quezon City Jail: A documentary on two inmates who have petty cases

• Main Authors: Co, Archimedes, Ortiz, Willa Rochine, Rodrigues, Dawn
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Prisoners—Legal status, laws, etc. > Philippines > Quezon City; Judicial process > Philippines; Jails > Philippines > Quezon City; Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11468
• Institution: De La Salle University

The documentary Bilangan sa Quezon City Jail shows how petty case defendants suffer from the slow judicial process in the Philippines. Moreover, the suffering goes on in the congested cells of the jail, where the prisoners are counted (bilangan) four times each day. With the postponement of the hearings, petty case defendants are already serving their sentence because of the years they have stayed in jail even before the final decision on their cases. The judicial system suffers from certain shortcomings of the courts today. Among them are the indiscriminate filings of cases even for minor ones that can be amicably settled between parties, the long delay in the disposition of cases, and the willingness of judges to postpone hearings of cases that drag on for years.