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MANILA, Philippines—In most jails around the country, there’s not much for prisoners to do to keep their blood flowing and their bodies in tiptop shape.
Not at the Makati City Jail Female Dormitory where inmates get a daily dose of physical activity that not only keeps them trim but also raises their spirits and leads to a stronger bond among prisoners.
For 30 minutes every morning, the inhabitants of the detention facility bop, gyrate and swivel their hips to catchy tunes as part of their dancercise ritual, the dormitory wardress, Supt. Esmeralda Azucena, said.
We have different routines: Hip-hop, Dance revolution and ‘Ikembot Mo (Shake it),’ she said. We also do a modern take on ethnic dances.
In their yellow prison garb, the women perform their routines on the open-air basketball court from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. under the soft light of the morning sun so they also get their Vitamin D, Azucena said.
But not all of the 126 inmates in the detention facility participate in the activity. The elderly and the sick are exempted, the wardress said.
Since the dancercise (from dance and exercise) ritual began in October last year, morale has been especially high in the prison facility in Barangay North Side, Fort Bonifacio, said Azucena, who also joins the morning ritual.
When we started it, it really became their way of bonding. It established a friendly disposition among the prisoners. You can really see the fun and enjoyment on their faces, she said.
Azucena said they were not trying to imitate the dancing inmates of Cebu, whose own routines recently made headlines after these became a hit on the video-sharing site, Youtube.
We didn’t copy them, she said, adding that the idea for the dance exercises came when they performed a number during the National Correctional Consciousness Week last year.
Since they enjoyed it so much, I thought of taking it further and making it a regular part of our daily routine, Azucena said, noting that there was not much physical activity available to prisoners.
The long-term objective, she said, is to improve the female detainees’ quality of life.
The facility has two cells, one of which houses 68 inmates, the other, 58. Each has a bunk bed. We even have extra bunk beds. But we’re still below the international standard of a 3-sq m space between bunk beds, Azucena added.
Most of the inmates in the facility have not been convicted of the charges filed against them and are still undergoing or awaiting trial. The majority of those already serving their sentences were convicted mostly for petty crimes, Azucena said.
Eighty percent of them are really just victims of circumstance. While they’re here, we presume that they’re innocent, she said.
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