Women’s Stories From the ‘Graveyard of the Living’ in the Philippines

Fides Lim never met a prickly prison guard she couldn’t stand up to. At the gates of the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW), Lim, of the political prisoner support group Kapatid, argued with all of the prison guards. They eventually begin to concede to her just demands.

The diminutive senior citizen and some volunteers had brought snacks and toiletries for the 11 convicted women political prisoners inside. “Not allowed,” the guards repeated, inspecting each item.

Lim flailed her arms every time they denied her, her closed fists landing on her hips. She asked for the names of all the guards; she repeated to them the rights of prisoners to proper nutrition and visitation. Eventually they gave in, after Lim berated them for denying the incarcerated women basic human needs. With some concessions on personal items, Lim successfully asserted her right to carry food into the jail.

“Every inch is a battle. You cannot get anywhere if you do not assert,” she said. Lim has gone through this tit-for-tat multiple times in many other prisons.

She’s seen raw tomatoes sliced up, pizzas turned into what looked like pig’s feed, and noodle dishes barred in what the guards say are standard procedures to intercept contraband. Lim thinks it’s dehumanizing, just another way to keep the spirits of prisoners down.

Even with all the trouble, she said more often than not, it’s more difficult getting things and people out of the prison rather than in.