Christo Pyer, 18, and his girlfriend Lesel, 16, on a bed in...

MANILA CITY JAIL, MANILA, PHILIPPINES - 2003/11/01: Christo Pyer, 18, and his girlfriend Lesel, 16, on a bed in the courtyard, while other inmates watch. Christo is a gang member of BCJ (Batang City Jail). The BCJ is one of 4 major gangs in Manila City Jail. Christo is accused of hold up and murder, and has spent 1 year in jail, his girlfriend Lesel visits him on a regular basis and sometimes she stays overnight. Manila City Jail was built for 800 prisoners by the Spanish in the mid-nineteenth century, and with today's tally of over 5,000 inmates, it is long overdue. The last big riot was in 1999 when 7 people, including a child, died. Fights are still rampant, but the biggest killer is tuberculosis, followed by asthma. In 2002 alone, over 50 inmates succumbed to these respiratory tract diseases, which is a hard sentence, since all inmates are undertrials, waiting sometimes for 4-9 years due to a very slow judiciary court system. The jail is divided into different dorms, the biggest part is taken by Metro Manila's four gangs, Bahala gang (fearless), Sputnik, Commando and Batang City Jail, all with 400-800 members each. (Photo by Gerhard Joren/LightRocket via Getty Images)
MANILA CITY JAIL, MANILA, PHILIPPINES - 2003/11/01: Christo Pyer, 18, and his girlfriend Lesel, 16, on a bed in the courtyard, while other inmates watch. Christo is a gang member of BCJ (Batang City Jail). The BCJ is one of 4 major gangs in Manila City Jail. Christo is accused of hold up and murder, and has spent 1 year in jail, his girlfriend Lesel visits him on a regular basis and sometimes she stays overnight. Manila City Jail was built for 800 prisoners by the Spanish in the mid-nineteenth century, and with today's tally of over 5,000 inmates, it is long overdue. The last big riot was in 1999 when 7 people, including a child, died. Fights are still rampant, but the biggest killer is tuberculosis, followed by asthma. In 2002 alone, over 50 inmates succumbed to these respiratory tract diseases, which is a hard sentence, since all inmates are undertrials, waiting sometimes for 4-9 years due to a very slow judiciary court system. The jail is divided into different dorms, the biggest part is taken by Metro Manila's four gangs, Bahala gang (fearless), Sputnik, Commando and Batang City Jail, all with 400-800 members each. (Photo by Gerhard Joren/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Christo Pyer, 18, and his girlfriend Lesel, 16, on a bed in...
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Credit:
Gerhard Joren / Contributor
Editorial #:
452969356
Collection:
LightRocket
Date created:
01 November, 2003
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Release info:
Not released. More information
Source:
LightRocket
Object name:
gjo05222