De Lima reiterates call to release 'qualified' inmates after suspected COVID-19 death in QC jail
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila de Lima on Tuesday again recommended to release "qualified" persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) following the death of a Quezon City Jail inmate suspected to have had COVID-19 and subsequent isolation of 15 other detainees who shared the same cell.
De Lima reiterated her proposal to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-IED), saying that prisons are not “100 percent safe” from the coronavirus disease.
“I again call upon the IATF-IED to consider the immediate release of qualified PDLs...The silence of our leaders regarding the dire situation of our PDLs is almost deafening,” the detained senator said in a Tuesday release.
“Ano pa ba ang hinihintay natin? Na dumami pa ang magpositibo sa COVID-19 sa mga bilangguan?”
(What are we waiting for? A COVID-19 outbreak in our prisons?)
The criteria to be used in considering the release of detainees or inmates, as suggested by De Lima, include the following:
- Elderly, 70 years old and above
- With serious illness or disability
- Detained, pre-conviction, for minor non-violent offenses
- Convicted for minor non-violent crimes
De Lima, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, said that those detained or convicted of heinous crimes should not be considered for early release.
She also said that if such a policy was not yet possible or feasible nationwide, detention facilities in the National Capital Region should at least be prioritized.
“Marami sa kanila, tulad ng mga preso sa Quezon City Jail, ay mahihirap (Many of them, including prisoners at the Quezon City Jail, are poor). Many of them are supposed to be out already, but they aren’t because they cannot afford bail.”
Global recommendations
A World Health Organization report said that prisons and other detention facilities are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic due to the obstacle of implementing social distance.
“People deprived of their liberty, such as people in prisons and other places of detention, are likely to be more vulnerable to the [COVID-19] outbreak than the general population because of the confined conditions in which they live together for prolonged periods of time,” the WHO report dated March 15 read.
“Moreover, experience shows that prisons, jails and similar settings where people are gathered in close proximity may act as a source of infection, amplification and spread of infectious diseases within and beyond prisons. Prison health is therefore widely considered as public health.”
Due to the said conditions, local and international groups have recommended the decongestion of prisons and detention facilities, as well as regulation of arrests to avoid further populating these and exacerbating COVID-19 outbreaks.
“Now, more than ever, Governments should release every person detained without sufficient legal basis...Imprisonment should be a measure of last resort,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in March.
URGENT: UN Human Rights Chief @mbachelet urges Governments to act now to prevent #COVID19 devastating the health of people in detention and other closed facilities, as part of global efforts to contain the pandemic.
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) March 25, 2020
Learn more ???? https://t.co/rnNyBisoDM#StandUp4HumanRights pic.twitter.com/xZZyqeVKwn
Photo shows members of the Philippine National Police deployed in Manila amid COVID-19 threat. The STAR/Edd Gumban
President Rodrigo Duterte on March 16, 2020 declares an enhanced community quarantine over all of mainland Luzon, an expansion of an earlier general community quarantine over the National Capital Region.
The entire National Capital Region—16 cities and a municipality—is under community quarantine from March 15 to April 14, which means the enforcement of social distancing measures like letting fewer people on public transportation, reduced store hours, and the possibiity of curfews.
According to a memorandum issued by the Palace on Saturday, March 14, the quarantine means that "movement of people shall be limited to accessing basic necessities and work; and uniformed personnel and quarantine officers shall be present at border points."
Travel restrictions in and out of the capital will also be implemented.
A labor group says another lockdown will never resolve rising COVID-19 cases in the Philippines after the government announced that Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal are placed under the enhanced community quarantine starting Monday.
“The Duterte government seems to be deliberate in focusing its efforts in imposing quarantine and lockdown measures instead of addressing the rising cases of COVID-19 and the worsening state of the pandemic through medical solutions and scientific approach,” says Defend Jobs Philippines.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque says the implementation of enhanced community quarantine is meant to slow down the increase of COVID-19 cases, so hospitals and health workers will not be overwhelmed.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announces that Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal are placed under enhanced community quarantine starting Monday, March 29.
Tuguegarao City will be placed under enhanced community quarantine from January 20 to 29 due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city.
Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba approved the request of Tuguegarao Mayor Jefferson Soriano to place the city under ECQ for 10 days.
According to the Cagayan Provincial Information Office, the city currently has 246 active cases.
BREAKING NEWS | ENERO 19, 2021 RIATF INAPRUBAHAN NA ANG PAGSASAILALIM SA TUGUEGARAO CITY SA 10-ARAW NA...
Posted by Cagayan Provincial Information Office on Tuesday, 19 January 2021
Batangas, one of the provinces hardest hit by the novel coronavirus, has reported no new cases of the disease for two consecutive days.
The provincial DOH Office says the number of COVID-19 cases in the province stood at 91 with no new cases as of Wednesday afternoon.
Lipa City has the most cases with 26, followed by Batangas City (21) and Nasugbu (11).
Tanauan City has the fourth most cases with eight, followed by Bauan (5) and Alitagtag (3). Cuenca and Sto. Tomas City had two cases each, while the municipalities of Calaca, Lemery, Lian, Lobo, Mabini, Mataas na Kahoy, Padre Garcia, San Jose, San Juan, San Pascual and Taal had one case each, respectively. — The Filipino Connection
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