MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / July 5, 2014) – The Human rights group Karapatan in Southern Tagalog strongly criticized the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology for its ongoing construction of a state-of-the-art detention facility for high-risk detainees at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
It said the new detention facility is another move to provide preferential accommodation to politicians and influential prisoners, possibly to include Janet Napoles and senators involved in the pork barrel fund scam.
Pastor Gil Sediarin, Karapatan Deputy Secretary, said the construction of the facility is another display of insensitivity and preferential treatment of the Aquino government to accommodate supposedly high-profile detainees, but in reality, they may just be comfortable excuse to accommodate special prisoners away from the regular prison facilities in city jails.
“This is a sham because while many ordinary and political prisoners are suffering in congested and inhumane conditions in regular jail facilities, including the Camp Bagong Diwa where political prisoner Andrea Rosal was detained, ironically they are constructing this costly facility at the expense of people’s money to provide modern comfort to criminals and corrupt officials,” he said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Rosal, daughter of communist leader Gregorio Rosal wgo was arrested in March this year, is being accused by authorities as a rebel leader.
He also expressed doubt if rules will really be implemented given the preferential treatment of the government in favor of high profile politicians implicated in the pork barrel scam who are currently detained the police custodial center, where facilities were upgraded and visitation rules were ignored to accommodate celebrity visitors.
Sediarin also refuted BJMP spokesman Aris Villaester statement boasting their adherence to fair treatment among detainees, saying that BJMP is making a double talk.
“If they are really walking their talk, how come they allowed ordinary detainees and political prisoners like Andrea Rosal to suffer, which led to baby Andrea’s death? And now, they putting in that same scenario another political prisoner Maria Torres who is 3 months pregnant,” Sediarin said.
Karapatan earlier reported that prior to the transfer of Torres to a hospital due to her critical condition, she was detained in a poorly ventilated cell together with detainees suffering from TB among other illnesses. The group also documented that in 2013, at least two inmates died in the female dorm, namely Leticia Socito and Marica Adobe who were already comatose and dehydrated, respectively when brought by BJMP to the hospital.
There was no immediate statement from the BJMP on the allegations of Karapatan.
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