Bilibid Prison/resort/hotel/lodging

Just a while ago while I was in my car going to school, I decided to tune in to an AM station. The two people were discussing the recent issue about the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) wherein there have been reports that some inmates that have a significant power in the society are given special treatments by providing them with better prison cells and better service than the others. During airtime of that radio segment, they decided to contact a police officer in the said prison. They began questioning the police officer if it was true that some were given better treatment than the others, then he said no everyone is treated the same in here. Then one of the radio hosts said that: “Pero ayon sa nakuha namin sa Failon Ngayon, eh may TV at DVD player sa kanyang selda?” (“but according to what we got from Failon Ngayon, there is a TV and a DVD player in his prison cell?”) (Failon Ngayon is a public service show, wherein Ted Failon is the host.) The police officer answered: “ay lahat naman po ng selda may TV at DVD player” (“oh, every prison cell has a TV and a DVD player”) I was in awe when I heard this. Why would a prison have these luxuries? A prison, for me, should be a place wherein people are afraid to be admitted to. In this case, maybe some would even prefer being in that prison instead of sleeping in the sidewalks. Wouldn’t that promote crime? The hosts of the radio show were flabbergasted; they asked the police officer one more time whether he understood the question and was he sure that he answered correctly. The police officer explained that: “donated po iyon nung Gloria administration” (“those were donated by the Gloria administration”) Once again, I was confused once more. Why would they do that? Instead of donating TV sets and DVD players, why not just fix the prison cells to ensure safety and good health of the prisoners because I heard (and I see on the news) that prison cells here in the Philippines are filthy. The hosts began to ask the police officer again whether it is true that there are prison cells that have air conditioners. The police officer, of course denied. Then one of the hosts said: “Pero may nababalita na meron daw talagang may special prison cell diyan, may aircon pa daw!?” (“but there have been reports that there realy are special prison cells that has air conditioning?!”) The police officer just denied it. For me, jails or prisons should not have these special treatments for VIPs. Or actually, all jails or prisons should not have luxuries like TV sets in every prison cells, DVD players, and such. Because they will not feel that they have done something wrong. They would not repent if they are “distracted” with those luxury items that are available and can be freely used by them. Although it may seem like I’m such a “kill-joy” person, it just seems to me that it is just right not to give them these luxuries because maybe they will think that there’s nothing wrong with being prisoned, it’s actually ok because I have a TV, aircon, and even a DVD player. Life’s good in here.