Almost 60% of the 4,000+ inmates are there for drug offenses. Some have been incarcerated simply for failing drug tests.
Three-quarters of the prison's populations are affiliated with gangs, each of which hold sway in different sections of the jail.
There is a truce among the four dominant gangs, more out of practicality than anything else.
Inmates usually wait months, often years, for their trials.
Although bails can be as low as $100, this is still beyond the means of most prisoners and most have no choice but to remain incarcerated.
Dormitories—referred to as "barangays" (Tagalog for 'village')—house anywhere from 120–200 residents despite being designed for 20–30.
Self-sufficient communities in their own right, the dorms offer makeshift prayer areas and even small convenience stores run by inmates.
Space is at such a premium that men will often have to sleep in shifts, taking turns at the few available spaces.
Any horizontal surface is fair game; inmates will sleep on floors, under beds, in stairwells, even atop bookcases.
The prison's craft shop and salon offer welcome distractions for the inmates but can only accommodate a few people at a time.
The entire prison is overseen by only 20 guards per shift; the inmates outnumber them by more than 20-to-1.
With 30,000 drug offenders arrested between July and November 2016, Quezon City Jail's population continues to grow at a rapid rate.
Quezon City Jail
One of the most crowded prisons in the Philippines, Quezon City Jail was built in 1953 to accommodate 800 inmates*; it currently holds over 4,000 residents with more being added every day, largely due to Duterte’s War on Drugs (over 400 new inmates have been added over the last few months alone).
* Per Philippine Bureau of Jail Management and Penology standards. The UN has stated that it should not hold more than 278.
