Party-list group to investigate abuse of female detainees

MANILA, Philippines - Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmerenciana de Jesus said Friday her organization will send a fact-finding mission to detention centers in the country following persistent reports of female detainees being abused by jail guards.

During a hearing of the House committee on appropriations on the proposed budget of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, De Jesus raised the issue of the lack of professionalism and discipline of BJMP officers and personnel in connection with mounting complaints received by the party-list group from female detainees on violence committed against them.

“Even under the purported daang matuwid (straight path) administration, we continue to receive reports of violence against women detainees in the form of sexual harassments committed by jail personnel,” De Jesus said.

She said the reported abuse and harassment committed by BJMP personnel runs counter to the requisite provided by Republic Act 9263, requiring jail officers to be persons of good moral character and of sound mind.

She cited a case in Philippine National Police headquarters Custodial Center under where women inmates were reportedly taken out of their cells at night and were forced to sit with jail officers during their drinking sprees.

She said such cases could be grossly underreported since most of the abused inmates would not report the violence against them for fear reprisals.

“They are detainees and the BJMP personnel have power over them so these hapless women are very vulnerable to abuse,” De Jesus told The STAR. “We will investigate these reports at the ground level. We will find ways for these victims to find the courage to report the abuses committed against them.”

De Jesus also expressed her concern with BJMP director Rosendo Dial over the equally harassing procedure of strip-searching women jail visitors at Camp Bagong Diwa.

“The BJMP should look into the cultural implications of this procedure, especially on women and our Muslim sisters, because we all know that body covering is part of their culture. There is a dehumanizing element in this procedure even if the officer conducting it is also a woman,” she said.