The deadline for the submission of the memo is on Monday, November 5, 2018.

BIO DATA
Personal Information
Names Pijate Magtanggol
Address Taytay Rizal
Age 46
Civil Status Single
Spouse None
Children 4
Educational attainment High School
Case/Charge Information
What is the charge against Illegal Possession of Drugs
him/her?
How did he/she end up He was caught during an entrapment operation
being detained?
How long had he/she been 12 years
detained?
Has the trial already The case is on the plea-bargaining stage
started? What stage is it?
Is he/she able to post bail? No
Why or why not?

WARDEN/ POLICE OFFICER ON DUTY

Ask them to tell The wardens have no problem with the

you about their work and about life at the detainees. Most detainees in the detention
jail. center are either senior citizens or are
suffering from some sort of illness. From
what they have told us, the detainees are
well behaved, and it is very rare that they
cause trouble.
One of the wardens, who is also a nurse,
shared that his only problem is balancing
paper work with the hospital appointments
of the detainees. One of the detainees suffer
from schizophrenia and he requires
consistent visits to the hospital. The
medication he takes are quite tricky since the
one that controls his schizophrenia must be
balanced by another medication to make
sure that he does not feel too numb. The
warden shared that there are times when he
 has to abandon his paperwork to take the
detainee to the hospital, even though the
paperwork is nearing its deadline. Paperwork
is also put in the backburner when he has to
accompany one detainee, who suffered from
a stroke, to his rehabilitation appointments.
Collectively, the wardens also shared that
lack of funds can also be a problem.

JAIL CONDITION
Reflections/Observations/Insights The detention center was surprisingly clean. I
was expecting it to be overpopulated and
dirty, but it was the total opposite. The
detainees were all praises regarding the
detention center as well. The detainee I
interviewed used to be incarcerated in the
Teresa District Jail, and he said that it was so
overpopulated some detainees die inside the
cell without some of the wardens noticing.
Disease also spread quite easily because they
were all cramped together inside a cell. In
this detention center, however, he only
shares his cell with one other detainee.

REFLECTION

What struck you about your
jail visit? Why?
What struck me most was the dynamic between the jail
wardens and the detainees. They had a harmonious
relationship. The wardens respected the detainees and vice
versa. I was also impressed at the condition of the detention
center. It was very clean and organized. I was also amazed at
the efforts of different organizations to make sure that the
detainees will be well equipped to fend for themselves when
they are released. Mr. Magtanggol shared that volunteers
from the Department of Education come every week to help
them graduate from the Alternative Learning System Program.
They are also taught by religious organizations on how to do
arts and crafts that they then sell to visitors. Their religion and
spirituality are also well taken care of because different
religious groups come every week for mass and other services.

What have you realized
about the criminal justice
system and the role of
lawyers in relation to that
system?
The detainees seem satisfied given the condition they are in.
Although they have done mistakes in the past, it still made me
happy to know that they are well taken care of.
Mr. Magtanggol told me that he is completely innocent. He
admitted that he dabbled with drugs in the past, but he was
completely clean at the time of his arrest. He argues that the
entrapment operation was a set-up. The story is quite
entertaining. His girlfriend at that time had a cousin who
works for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. He got his
girlfriend pregnant, and for some reason, he was planning to
leave her. The girlfriend then tells the cousin who works for
PDEA and the set-up happened. He has been asserting his
innocence for the past 12 years, but his lawyer now advised
him to plead guilty so that he can get out of prison faster. The
story that Mr. Magtanggol told me may be completely true,
and it may also be completely false. However, this made me
think of the other innocent detainees who are forced to plead
guilty in order to expedite their time served in jail. It also took
12 years for Mr. Magtanggol to even reach the plea-
bargaining stage in his case because the Court hearing is
always moved due to the non-appearance of the officers who
were present during the entrapment operation. I found it odd
that the Judge never penalized the opposing counsel for this.
Is it because it is a drug case and the accused is not well-to-
do? The defense attorney of Mr. Magtanggol comes from the
Public Attorney’s Office. He shared that there are times when
they only meet thrice a year, or during the hearing itself. This
made me wonder if the attorney can even give best efforts to
Mr. Magtanggol’s case given that he is also defending other
numerous people for free. Maybe the reason why most PAO
attorneys convince their clients to plead guilty is for them to
get the case over with.
My interview with Mr. Magtanggol made me realize how
much improvement is still needed in our criminal justice
system – especially when it comes to the less fortunate. We
need more lawyers to do pro-bono cases to make sure that
each and every one of them are given a fighting chance in
proving their innocence, or at best, in making sure that they
get the best deal possible. Fighting for clients isn’t only
fighting for that particular person alone, but also their
families, and those who are similarly situated. Lawyers, as
tools of justice, can greatly influence and improve the justice
system.