‘Prison is not place for a baby,’ Manila court tells political detainee mom

MANILA, Philippines – The prison is not a place for a baby to stay, especially that the country is dealing with the pandemic due to COVID-19, a Manila Court said agreeing to the comment of the officer-in-charge of the city’s jail facility as it maintained that an infant cannot stay with her detainee mother.

“In light of the letter-comment of the OIC Manila City Jail Female Dormitory, the motion for reconsideration of PDL [Person Deprived of Liberty] Reina Mae Nasino is denied for being untenable,” read the two-page order dated July 30 from the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 20.

The mother and the child were allowed to occupy a former stage which was enclosed to monitor the health condition of pregnant PDLs, senior citizen PDLs with hypertension, and female PDLs suffering from epilepsy, asthma, and congestive heart diseases.

Based on the letter by the OIC of Manila City Jail Female Dormitory, a 2010  memorandum circular from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said “an infant born while the mother is detained in jail may be allowed to stay with the mother for a period not exceeding one month.”

“The Female Dormitory has a heart for mothers and their babies however, BJMP also has policies and guidelines to be strictly implemented,” read the letter.

Nasino gave birth to a baby girl last July 1 and was discharged from Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital after 48 hours. [ac]

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