Barring of De Lima’s visitors bound by strict rules – PNP

6TH TIME TO SPEND BIRTHDAY IN DETENTION | Only her brother kept former Sen. Leila de Lima company on her 63rd birthday on Saturday at Camp Crame, after her other visitors, including former and current officials and lawmakers, were denied entry to the camp. (Photo from Agence France-Presse)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police on Sunday said it denied a request from detained former Sen. Leila de Lima to receive additional visitors at Camp Crame for her 63rd birthday on Aug. 27 because it was filed late.

Col. Mark Pespes, director of the PNP-Headquarters Support Service, explained that under PNP Memorandum Circular No. 2018-027, a written request to visit a person in police custody must be made at least 10 working days before the date of visit. But these would still need to be approved by the national police chief for foreign requests and the PNP regional director for local requests.

Pespes said that in De Lima’s case, the request was made on the evening of Aug. 22, or four days before the planned visit.

“The senator is aware that her request fell short of the required number of days stated in the memo, but the PNP Headquarters Support Service [still] made earnest efforts to process the request. However, it couldn’t be approved [on] time,” he added.

According to him, all requests are evaluated thoroughly and undergo a process. He also said the PNP would not deprive those in its custody of their constitutional right to be visited but requests should follow the police memorandum.

Equal treatment

“We treat all persons under PNP custody equally and no one is exempt from this policy,” Pespes said.

Several personalities, including retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, former Ombudswoman Conchita Carpio Morales, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, were among those barred from visiting De Lima. Only her immediate family was given permission.

But former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Solita Monsod said in her blog post on Saturday that the former senator made a written request to receive visitors at Camp Crame for two hours on her birthday “weeks ago.”

Carpio told the Inquirer that he received a text message from De Lima’s staff on Aug. 17 inviting him to the PNP Custodial Center on her birthday.

“I replied immediately that I would attend. The staff then asked me to get a rapid antigen test within 48 hours before Aug. 27, which I did,” he said. But he added that he did not know when De Lima or her staff filed their request with the PNP.

It was the sixth birthday in detention for De Lima, a critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war who has been detained since 2017 on drug charges that her supporters say are politically motivated.

Five American lawmakers were also initially barred from visiting her last week until they applied for and got permission from a court hearing one of the cases against the former legislator.

De Lima said last week that it was clear in the PNP guidelines that getting the court’s permission was not required of foreigners visiting detainees.

“I felt that it was clearly a case of unfairly changing the rules in the middle of the game,” she claimed.

Be ‘consistent’

Lawyer Rico Domingo, chair of the Movement Against Disinformation, said the PNP should be “consistent and uniform” in implementing its guidelines.

“Of course, they have to follow their own security requirements in the PNP. But if they are not consistent in the implementation, maybe we can say it is arbitrary. We have to look at the circular carefully,” he told the Inquirer.

Domingo also questioned why the court hearing De Lima’s case had yet to grant her bail after two key witnesses retracted their testimonies against her.

“She should be released because they found no probable cause to continue her detention,” he said.

Activist-lawyer Neri Colmenares said the PNP’s move to deny De Lima visitors was “clearly harassment.”

“It’s not legal. Regulations on Senator De Lima are absurdly strict and discriminatory. I’m sure politicians charged with pork barrel scam or the likes of [former President] Gloria Arroyo never had such prohibition or rules when she was imprisoned. Really double standard,” he said.

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