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Thriller Near Manilla

It’s fun to stay at the Cebu Provincial Detention Center and Rehabilitation Center:

“Thriller”

“In The Navy” and “YMCA”

Here’s what that’s about: 

CEBU, Philippines - You think it’s fun to stay at the YMCA? Try a Filipino prison!

One of YouTube’s hottest video hits is a peppy dance routine produced right here, behind the thick stone walls topped by electrified razor wire of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

In identical orange prison uniforms, up to 1,500 punks, thugs and thieves march and clap in unison as they perform precision dance routines with the Village People’s “In the Navy” and “YMCA” pounding from six well-worn black speakers.

And why not? Their version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” had been watched nearly 4.4 million times on YouTube as of Thursday, uploaded by Byron Garcia, the Cebu provincial security consultant who came up with the idea of adding structure to poorly attended exercise sessions.

“If I was not in prison, I would not be famous,” said Wenjiel Resane, the male inmate who plays the girlfriend in “Thriller” and dances in other songs.

“Before . . . we just get our food and go back to our cell, and if we don’t have anything to do we just talk,” Resane said. “But it is different now. Every day we are very busy preparing to dance for our upcoming shows. We are very proud of what we have done.”

Topics: asia, crime, punishment

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:16 am on Saturday, August 11, 2007

7 Responses to “Thriller Near Manilla”

1. RebeccaH Says:
   August 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

   You gotta admit: it’s better than shanking each other, or playing rope-a-dope in the showers.

2. saltydog Says:
   August 11th, 2007 at 3:12 pm

   Better than idle hands (or as RebeccaH notes, busy hands doing evil). It would never do here, I suppose. Most of our inmates are too busy balking up, getting tattooed and continuing their gang wars and bids for power.

3. The_Real_JeffS Says:
   August 11th, 2007 at 7:23 pm

   Besides, saltydog, here in the US of A, Michael Jackson is sooooo 1985. They could hold similar events to rap in the US prisons, but as Rebecca notes, we really don’t want them killing each other.

4. El Cid Says:
   August 11th, 2007 at 7:59 pm

   TRJ

   we really don’t want them killing each other.

   We don’t?…:).

5. The_Real_JeffS Says:
   August 11th, 2007 at 11:02 pm

   Just being PC, El Cid. ;-)

6. jtdavies Says:
   August 12th, 2007 at 10:32 am

   Maybe I’m getting old, but I found the “In the Navy” video extremely annoying. I saw a bunch of loads on society imitating their betters. To me they haven’t earned the right to march in formation.

7. saltydog Says:
   August 12th, 2007 at 2:04 pm

   Well, jtdavies, we must remember that marching in formation is all they can manage, whereas their betters start with that and go on to more serious–and greater–things.

   I understand, though. It’s hard not to go all curmudgeon about so much of what goes on (if you’ll excuse the grammar).

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