The Journal

Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial

While actress Lindsay Lohan bounces in and out of rehab, and singer Amy Winehouse released a song about her flat-out refusal to even go, many lesser-known people - such as the inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center - have no choice but to make the best of it.

The prison in Cebu City, Philippines houses approximately 1,500 inmates, whose crimes range from drug dealing and robbery to rape and murder. Instead of whiling away the days by staring idly at their cell walls, these prisoners spend up to five hours a day participating in choreographed dance.

Daily dance practice is mandatory for every physically capable inmate at CPDRC - refusal to participate may result in a loss of conjugal visits and other privileges - but those who feel that forcing prisoners to dance for five hours a day is a form of cruel and unusual punishment are only half-right.

Unusual as it may be, it certainly doesn't qualify as cruel. Dancing is a great form of exercise and stress-relief. It can also teach skills such as teamwork and discipline and serve as an outlet for pent-up anger, frustration and other negative energy.

CPDRC, once notorious for weekly outbreaks of violence, gangs and corruption among inmates and guards, has not had a violent episode in almost a year and a half, said Prison Overseer Byron Garcia in a CNN article. By comparison, a June 2006 report issued by the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's prisons found that violence is still rampant in U.S. correctional facilities.

"The majority of prisons and many jails hold more people than they can deal with safely and effectively, creating a degree of disorder and tension almost certain to erupt into violence," according to the report. "Similarly, few conditions compromise safety more than idleness. But because lawmakers have reduced funding for programming, prisoners today are largely inactive and unproductive. Highly structured programs are proven to reduce misconduct in correctional facilities and also to lower recidivism rates after release."

CPDRC, too, has problems with overcrowding - one prisoner may share a cell with as many as 15 others - but Garcia's simple idea of engaging the inmates in one productive activity has drastically reduced the crime rate within the prison. Now that the inmates of CPDRC are internationally known, prisons in other countries have no reason not to adhere to the Philippines' example.

Continued...

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