Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 8) — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology stressed that prisoners cannot be temporarily freed during the pandemic, despite running petitions against the threat of COVID-19 inside jails.
In a statement, BJMP spokesperson Xavier Solda said Wednesday that they are still studying propositions that are “not within the bounds of existing laws,” despite calls to decongest their detention cells.
“One of the issues here is actually on how to present strong evidence to convince the court that those who will be released after having been detained or convicted for low-level and non-violent offenses will not endanger the public or at the very least, will not commit any crime during this public health emergency,” he said.
Solda reasoned that if persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), even those from the vulnerable sector of the prison population, would be released in the first place, there is no guarantee that they will return immediately once the virus has been contained.
“[They] are safer inside our jails, with us. If they will be out, as some groups [are] proposing, how can these groups assure the public that those who will be released will not contract the virus?” Solda added.
Earlier in the day, families of 22 prisoners were assisted by the Public Interest Law Center and the National Union of People’s Lawyers in filing a petition before the Supreme Court which seeks the temporary release of these individuals from the “vulnerable or at-risk groups by reason of their medical and/or physical conditions” based on humanitarian grounds.
The petition noted that the virus will most likely infect those who are elderly, sickly, and pregnant inside jails due to “overcrowding and lack of access to hygiene measures and medical care.”
But for Solda, the BJMP is just doing its best to implement the necessary precautionary measures inside their facility to avoid infection.
“We are thankful that up to this date, we have no record of PDLs with COVID-19 inside our jails,” he said.
Back in March, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that inmates have no way of contracting the virus due to the suspension of visitation rights inside detention cells.
Data from the Department of Interior and Local Government shows that there are a total of 134,748 PDLs nationwide. The male dormitory of Cebu City Jail has the highest number of PDLs with 6,237; followed by Manila City Jail with 4,916.
