Criminals and politicians

Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo revealed plans to initiate a national summit of the Judiciary and the Executive Branches of the government to try solving the congestion problem in many local jails all around the country. Gesmundo disclosed about such plans after he visited and saw personally the situation at the Pasay City Jail on Oct. 29.

The Chief Justice’s jail visit obviously sought to highlight the importance of knowing the actual condition of inmates cramped inside these detention facilities. All detainees in city or municipal jails are called “people under police custody” (PUPC). As the politically correct term being used by the Philippine National Police (PNP), the PUPCs are those still undergoing trial for their criminal cases.

The SC announced the planned summit would be in coordination with the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC). Aside from the SC, the JSCC is composed of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). Offhand, the SC wants the JSCC to hold the summit primarily “to identify the root causes of prolonged detention in jails, which contribute to prison overcrowding.”

The Chief Justice believes the holding of the summit will help the government formulate policies that will enhance jail management and ensure the human safekeeping of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs). The Philippine government adopted the United Nations term PDLs since 2015 based from the Nelson Mandela Rules to describe people who were incarcerated and deprived of their freedom after conviction and final ruling of the court.

It was named after the late popular South African President Nelson Mandela who got incarcerated as the leader of the movement that fought against the apartheid policy, or racial segregation once enforced in their country.

According to Gesmundo, the SC is spearheading many initiatives meant to benefit PDLs, including recommending lower bail amounts for indigent accused individuals and expediting the release of qualified prisoners. As the head of the highest court of the land, Gesmundo reiterated his standing directives to all trial and lower courts to prioritize the disposition of criminal cases.

“We aim to establish new policies and initiatives that shall expedite the processing of criminal cases and alleviate jail congestion,” the Chief Justice promised. During his brief pep talks with the PDLs, the Chief Justice encouraged them to never lose hope “for the time will come when justice shall arrive, and freedom shall be yours.”

But do you know that three out of ten PDLs in the Philippines – after being freed – return to life of crimes, get re-arrested and jailed again? This is the sad reality affecting many PDLs who go in and out and back again in many of the local detention and jail facilities run by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). In our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. told us about this BJMP record of recidivists PDLs who add to the problem of congestion in many local jails and detention centers.

The BJMP is one of the attached agencies under the control and supervision of the DILG Secretary.

Under our country’s legal set-up, Abalos explained PUPCs and PDLs who are not yet convicted for crimes that have three to six years or less imprisonment get detained in BJMP detention facilities or local jails.

Those convicted of criminal cases and sentenced to six years or more of imprisonment, he pointed out, are sent to national jails run by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), an attached agency of the DOJ. These national detention facilities include the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, and penal colonies located in various part of the country.

Based on the BJMP report to him, Abalos noted with concern that 30 percent of PDLs who get freed and released are almost likely going back to jail. To address this situation, Abalos disclosed, the DILG has been working with the Department of Labor and Employment to provide livelihood start-up capital for newly released PDLs under its TUPAD program and scholarship program run by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The TUPAD program, which stands for “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers,” is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed, and seasonal workers for a minimum of ten (10) days but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days.

More worrisome to the DILG Secretary is the BJMP report that seven out of 10 cases of PDLs are all illegal drugs-related crimes. Earlier, Abalos admitted he was most baffled to the reported victory of at least three PDLs as among the winning “kagawad” (councilors) in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) held last Oct. 30.

During our Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum held two days after the BSKE, Abalos noted that the three PDLs, who are all facing illegal drugs cases, won as barangay council “kagawad” in their respective barangays. Presumably, Abalos theorized, the families of the three PDLs and their respective supporters did well in their campaign strategy in promoting their candidacies. Apparently, Abalos further surmised, they took advantage of the “visiting hours” where the PDLs are allowed to talk and use mobile phones for social media campaign pitches of the three detained candidates.

Arguably, their respective rival candidates did not research well on the background of the three PDLs. They could either sought their rival’s disqualification, or to at least alert their constituents about the PDL status of such “kagawad” candidate. The DILG Secretary though plans to explore with Comelec Chairman George Garcia on how such legal technicalities could be properly addressed in the future.

It’s not only happening in the Philippines, though, but elsewhere in the world where criminals enjoy being politicians – vice versa – while behind bars.