MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court extended the suspension on transfers of detainees issued to deter the spread of coronavirus in our jail and correctional facilities.
In a one-page circular for first and second level court judges, Court Administrator Midas Marquez said OCA Circular No. 121-2020 and OCA Circular No. 125-2020 will remain valid until September 30, “considering that the country remains to be in different levels of Community Quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Circular 121-2020 directed the detention of newly arrested persons to local Philippine National Police units, “unless the local Bureau of Jail Management and Penology units are already able to admit newly arrested” Persons Deprived of Liberty.
Meanwhile, Circular 125-2020 125-2020 suspended the issuance of commitment orders from BJMP facilities to the Bureau of Corrections.
BJMP operates jails and holds jurisdiction over people awaiting or undergoing investigation or trial, those waiting to be transferred to Bureau of Corrections-run penitentiaries, and over "violent mentally ill person who endangers themselves."
The circulars were issued following the request of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag, respectively, “to prevent the further contamination of COVID-19 among PDLs.”
Latest data from the corrections bureau showed that at least 21 inmates, including nine high-profile convicts, died due to the coronavirus. The National Bureau of Investigation is conducting a probe into deaths of high-profile inmates at the national penitentiary
Former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, convicted on the rape and murder of University of the Philippines-Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, is suspected to have COVID-19. He is currently at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital while waiting for the results of his swab test. — Kristine Joy Patag