SC asked: Temporary freedom for elderly, political detainees

MANILA, Philippines — A group of 22 political detainees appealed for “humanitarian considerations” in asking the Supreme Court to temporarily free them and others who were elderly, sickly or pregnant for the duration of the health crisis caused by the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

They said their age and health made them vulnerable to contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the acute respiratory ailment, in congested jails “where it is practically impossible” to take precautions like social distancing and frequent hand-washing.

“Hellish prison conditions in the Philippines make the detainees vulnerable to COVID-19,” they said in a petition filed by their families and lawyers from the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on Wednesday.

The elderly and sick detainees are most likely to catch the virus due to the prison conditions on top of a lack of proper nutrition, sanitation, access to medicine and hospitals, they told the court.

Highly vulnerable

“The continued incarceration and detention of highly vulnerable inmates, such as the elderly, pregnant women and those who have preexisting medical conditions that pose a high risk of contracting the coronavirus, is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment, which the 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits,” they added.

The petitioners include National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultants Vicente Ladlad, Francisco Fernandez, Adelberto Silva, Rey Casambre—who were arrested in 2018—and Renante Gamara, who was nabbed last year.

They are detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City along with 12 other detainees who joined the petition: Dionisio Almonte, Ireneo Atadero Jr., Emmanuel Bacarra, Alexander Birondo, Winona Birondo, Ferdinand Castillo, Ediesel Legaspi, Alberto Villamor, Virginia Villamor, Cleofe Lagtapon, Geann Perez and Oliver Rosales.

The other petitioners are Norberto Murillo, Reina Nasino, Dario Tomada and Oscar Belleza who are detained at Manila City Jail; and Lilia Bucatcat.

All except Bucatcat are still undergoing trial. Bucatcat is serving her sentence at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.

Of the 22 political detainees, 14 are in their 60s, three are in their 70s, and the rest are in their 50s or younger. One of the detainees has leprosy and another is five months pregnant.

Most of them have a combination of chronic or debilitating illnesses, like hypertension, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

They asked the Supreme Court to allow them to either post bail or be released on personal recognizance for the duration of the public health emergency.

Under recognizance, a detainee who cannot post bail due to poverty is released to the custody of a prominent member of the barangay, city or municipality.

Enrile case

The petitioners cited the case of former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who was granted bail in 2015 by the Supreme Court for humanitarian considerations due to his advanced age. Enrile is on trial for plunder, a nonbailable crime.

“Petitioners assert that they are not a flight risk because they are old, frail, sickly and, unlike Enrile, do not have the resources to evade trial by fleeing, especially during the enhanced community quarantine being strictly imposed,” they told the tribunal.

“While they are charged with common crimes, the arrest, detention and charges against [them] are due to their political beliefs. They are not hardened criminals. They will not evade trial nor flee from the charges,” the group said.

In their petition, the detainees said the issue of whether they should be released during the pandemic “is more than just a legal issue [but] should be resolved based on compassion and humanitarian considerations.”

They said United Nations bodies and international human rights groups have called for the mass release of vulnerable prisoners.

They also asked the Supreme Court to create a prisoner release committee, like those set up in other countries, to immediately study and implement the release of vulnerable prisoners in other congested prisons.

Several countries and territories had released or had announced plans to free prisoners to decongest jails to prevent the spread of the virus.

These are Ethiopia, Sudan, Germany’s North-Rhine Westphalia state, Canada’s state of Ontario, the US state of New Jersey, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Australia, the group said.

High risk

The political detainees said that despite the ban against visitors and an order to jail guards not to go home to minimize the possibility of infection, detainees were “still at high risk of getting infected” since contact with prison guards and staff was inevitable.

The recent death of an inmate in Quezon City Jail “serves as a warning to put in place effective and preemptive measures in jails,” they added.

“It would be unbelievable if any prison official in any country, especially poor countries like the Philippines, to claim that their prison system is capable of handling the virus once it sets inside prison walls,” they said.