No one should sit in prison for hunger

The story of Paul Matthew Tanglao reminds me of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Misérables,” about the convict Jean Valjean who stole a piece of bread. He spent many years in prison for stealing bread for his family. What a shame for society.

First, a hungry employee is already a shame for the company. Second, an employee who had no money to buy a can of corned beef is a shame for the company, too. Third, he was arrested for P31.50!!! This is a terrible shame.

It is completely illogical. How much will it cost for the prison to feed him daily? In Germany, there will be for sure no arrest for such a bagatelle crime; we can’t afford to overload our prison system. We need this place for real criminals like murderers, rapists, terrorists, and so on.

President Duterte, as a self-declared socialist, should pay his bail if he is truly a man for the poor. No one should sit in prison because of hunger.

JÜRGEN SCHÖFER, PhD, [email protected]