There are three primary types of prison facilities: facilities for short-term prison sentences, national prisons and prison farms.

• District, city and municipal jails comprise the facilities for short-term prison sentences. They house persons who are placed in pre-trial detention and those condemned to sentences of less than three years. These facilities are managed by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology: BJMP), which falls under the purview of the Minister of the Interior and local authorities.

• For longer-term sentences, there are two types of facilities: national prisons and prison farms.
  Prison farms, often located on islands, allow prisoners relative freedom in an area covering several hundred hectares. These institutions house people condemned to sentences of more than three years. Prison farms are open prisons. There, prisoners learn a trade that will allow them to reintegrate into society more easily after their release (see Work). Prisoners can be identified by their tee-shirts. They sleep in guarded huts.

Prison farms are located on islands. It allows prisoners relative freedom in an area covering several hundred hectares. Other establishments are spread over the archipelago.
Many of the prisons are sometimes housed in dilapidated or makeshift buildings. The Kidapawan prison building is a deteriorating former school located in an isolated forested region¹. Other facilites, built on islands, such as the Negros Oriental Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Dumaguete or the Davao City women’s prison.

People are also held in cells at the Philippine National Police (PNP) stations. Between October 2014 and February 2015, The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) visits police stations in the capital. Police detain people who have been taken into police custody, as well as those being prosecuted, during their preliminary investigation. The slow pace of the congested justice system is increasing the duration of these detentions. Their legal duration, capped at 36 hours, stretches into days, even months. This results in serious logistical problems (see Cells and Food). The buildings are often dilapidated and in poor condition.

Secret detention locations continue to exist. They house individuals suspected of terrorism, especially within the context of armed conflict by Communist or Islamic groups opposing the government. Prisoners, some of whom are minors, are subjected to acts of torture (see Violence and Poor Treatment). The United Nations Committee against Torture called for the closing of secret detention locations in April 2016. .

Some facilities have adopted a system of management: sharing with gangs. Guarding prisoners can be delegated to them. The New Bilibid prison houses 12 regional gangs, who serve as go-betweens for administration and detainees. This practice furthers violence, and as a consequence, 95% of the prisoners belong to a gang. ¹.