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3,800 Inmates Crammed Into a Philippine Jail Built for 800 (23 photos)

The new president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, assumed office on June 30, quickly ordering a renewed crackdown on illegal drugs and drug-related crimes. The immediate results have been more than 400 deaths, and thousands of arrests, driving more prisoners into an already crowded and strained system. For example, in Manila’s Quezon City jail, 3,800 inmates are now stuffed into a facility built to house just 800. According to AFP reporter Ayee Macaraig, the incarcerated men “engage in a relentless contest for space… taking turns sleeping on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets.” Getty photographer Noel Celis recently captured the following scenes from just one of the Philippines’ many overcrowded jails.