MANILA, December 17 -- Rogelio Reyes has learned to be a patient man. The 58-year-old economist is one of the longest-serving inmates in Manila City Jail. He has spent more than 14 years there but has never been convicted of a crime. I met Reyes inside the jail in October. Even in a crowd of more than 6,000 inmates, he's hard to miss. He's usually marching through Dorm 7, organising the prisoners, announcing the day's activities, and shouting for his deputy, 'Mamu'. With his round belly and booming laugh, Reyes is popular among the inmates. In fact, they elected him to be their 'mayor'. All 14 dorms in the jail have mayors, who appoint their own deputies and 'marshals' to guard the dorms. "We have a system where we share the governance," said Jayrex Bustinera, the jail's chief records officer. "We delegate some of the authority to the inmate leaders where inmates can police co-inmates … They help us institute peace and order." Mayors like Reyes do more than just keep the peace. They prevent the jail from being overrun. Prisons in the Philippines are the most congested in the world. Manila City Jail, for example, is operating almost 600 percent over capacity. "Our ideal capacity should be around 1,100 inmates. But the actual jail population is up to 6,300 inmates," said Bustinera. Conditions are so cramped that inmates sleep side-by-side on every inch of floor space. The unlucky ones sleep sitting up. Illnesses like tuberculosis and skin diseases are rampant. After spending two weeks inside the prison, every member of our crew fell ill.In such extreme conditions, it doesn't take much for tempers to boil over. "We should be scared, because we can be outnumbered anytime," Bustinera admitted. International guidelines recommend one guard for every seven inmates, but here the ratio is one to about 200.
It's the job of mayors like Reyes to keep a lid on this potentially volatile situation. He advocates for inmates with the prison authorities and ensures that all the new arrivals respect the rules. "If you are angry, you will not survive," he said. "If your heart is full of anger, most probably you will be in the stockroom … because you will quarrel with the many inmates. Here you have to control yourself."
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