Dead or alive? Drilon scores BuCor for ‘lack of transparency’ in Bilibid deaths

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday scored the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) for its supposed lack of transparency after it invoked the Data Privacy Act in refusing to disclose information on the reported deaths in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

BuCor director-general Gerald Bantag earlier said they are prohibited by the Data Privacy Act to reveal the names of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who died of COVID-19.

This after sources revealed that Jaybee Sebastian, a key witness in the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), and eight other high-profile inmates at the same penitentiary have died of COVID-19.

But in a statement, Drilon warned that giving BuCor the “license as to who to declare dead and alive in one of the world’s most crowded correctional facilities” is “dangerous” and “prone to different kinds of abuses.”

“Ano bang tinatago ng BuCor? Moreover, transparency is an effective mechanism to guard against abuses such as fake or simulated deaths,” the senator, a former justice secretary, said.

“I am afraid it can be used to make prisoners disappear, cover-up extra-judicial killings, and even to fake death,” he added.

“I am not saying that this is happening but if we are not transparent, then the people will keep entertaining doubts about the veracity of these alleged deaths involving high-profile inmates,” he further said.

According to Drilon, BuCor has already been subjected to previous allegations of extending special treatment to high-profile inmates or controversies, such as high-profile prisoners being purportedly spotted outside of jail.

“Any doubts or danger of the inmates’ deaths being simulated can be addressed through full transparency,” Drilon pointed out.

“They have valid reasons to doubt because of the situation today and the peculiar nature of handling the remains of the victims of COVID-19,” he added.

He explained that the fact of death is not a “sensitive personal information” protected by the Data Privacy Act.

“In fact, upon any person’s death, there is a requirement to execute a death certificate which is a public document,” he said.

“Disclosing information about a prisoner’s death is not protected information under the Data Privacy Law. The fact that a person is dead is not contemplated by the law,” he added.

The matter of “who is alive and dead” in the NBP is a valid issue, especially amid a pandemic, according to Drilon.

“The people have a right to know. Given the reports of the spread of the virus in the NBP, the people would want to find out the truth. Who is still alive and actively serving jail time in the NBP? Who has passed away? Those are valid questions,” he said.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has already confirmed the death of Sebastian following a meeting between Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Bantag.

During the meeting, Bantag also confirmed that 21 PDLs who have contracted COVID-19 have died since March. [ac]