MANILA, Philippines — A rights group advocating for the release of political prisoners raised concerns over the silence of prison officials in the face of anxious family members worried about relatives behind bars.
In a statement issued Sunday, Fides Lim, the spokesperson of Kapatid, a support group for families and friends of political prisoners, called for clarity on the part of the bureaus of corrections and jail management regarding the actual condition of inmates inside the country’s congested facilities.
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“These appeals from prisoners’ kin underscore the necessity for transparency [but] the silence of prison officials about what’s really going on is deafening but telling—and alarming,” she noted.
"The increase in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, including the reported hundreds of deaths from still unidentified reasons, moreover stress the urgency and justness of our pending petition at the Supreme Court for the release of the elderly, the sick, and pregnant prisoners on humanitarian grounds amid the pandemic," she added.
Kapatid said that messages have been piling up in its inboxes and channels since the enforcement of a coronavirus lockdown in prisons.
Though the organization was able to direct relatives to the proper agencies concerned, many of the latter who were lucky enough to get a response were only "given the run-around" later on.
Others were ignored by the Bureau of Corrections, an attached agency under the justice department, altogether, and told that the information being asked for was "confidential."
Families of political prisoners trooped to the Supreme Court compound on Tuesday morning. They held red beaded roses handcrafted by the inmates to ask SC justices to “vote for life.”
— Kristine Patag (@kristinepatag) June 16, 2020
???? KAPATID@PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/Qpk7DTYlJN
One family member was offered a waiver of funeral expenses of P15,000 provided that they would not pursue an autopsy of the remains of his brother who passed away in Camp Bagong Diwa, in Taguig.. The family was not given a cause of death, he said, only told that their son was declared "dead on arrival."
Another daughter of a prisoner at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa also reported that her father was suddenly transferred to an isolation facility for suspected COVID-19 cases inside the Medium Security Compound.
Others still received reports that their relatives died while in detention, but further information on the deaths or where to get the body for a proper burial was not given.
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Data from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) from October 2019 said that the bureau posted a 450% congestion rate, which, they said, meant that six prisoners occupied the space of four square meters, which was only meant for one detainee.
“We are the relatives of prisoners whose lives are now at risk because of the coronavirus disease. Inform us what is really happening inside because we deserve to know!” the group said.
The bureau also said last week that 745 detainees tested positive for COVID-19 as of June 11.
According to President Rodrigo Duterte's latest report to Congress, the Board of Pardons and Parole received 984 applications, while 165 persons deprived of liberty have been granted parole as of June 3.
Meanwhile, the new pathogen has also infected over 29,000 Filipinos and caused over 1,100 deaths, the health department disclosed in its previous daily tally late Saturday night.
“Prisoners’ families deserve transparency and truth and expedient action as the lives of prisoners are now at greater risk inside facilities where physical isolation and other safety practices are proving no match to the deadly COVID-19,” Lim said. — Franco Luna with reports from Kristine Joy Patag