Stringent measures in jail visits curtail rights to visit prisoners

We decry the sudden stringent measures imposed in jail visits this Christmas season that curtail the right to visit political prisoners.

Every year at Christmas time, Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights, along with its member organizations, families of political prisoners, friends and fellow advocates, visit political prisoners as part of our continuous solidarity with them. Visiting prisoners, including political prisoners, provides them a brief respite during the season. It is an opportunity for them to unite with their families and friends who advocate for their freedom from unjust arrest and incarceration.

In the past years, we simply submitted letter requests to the proper authorities, along with the list of names of visitors and the names of the political prisoners to be visited. Upon visit, visitors complied with the usual procedures: presentation and submission of IDs, inspection of personal belongings and things to be brought inside the facilities, even frisking and search by jail officers. Political prisoners are brought to the common place to meet the visitors where we hold a solidarity program with them, as it has been in so many years.

On December 12, we sent a letter to the Bureau of Jail Management of Penology-National Capital Region, requesting permission to visit political prisoners at the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) and Taguig City Jail-Female Dorm (TCJ-FD) in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. There are currently 23 male political prisoners at the MMDJ, and nine political prisoners at TFD. Political prisoners here include consultants for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants Alan Jazmines, Tirso "Bart" Alcantara, Emeterio Antalan, Leopoldo Caloza and Ma. Loida Magpatoc. Also detained in the TCJ-FD is Andrea Rosal, who lost her child two days after birth in May this year due to poor conditions inside the jail.

In response to our letter, the BJMP-NCR issued a memorandum on December 16, signed by Chief Superintendent  Emmanuel T. Sicio, regional director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-National Capital Region addressed to the jail warden of the detention facilities. The letter read, and stated in item letters (a) and (b), the following:

"The request…may be considered, provided they shall abide with the 'Guidelines for Application to conduct any Activity inside Jail Facilities' dated March 22, 2011, such as:

a. Submit authenticated copy of their registration certificate issued by Securities and Exchange (SEC)

b. Members who are willing to conduct any activity within the jail activity shall attach valid NBI clearance and membership ID."

This is the first time our organization is being asked of our SEC registration papers, and that all visitors should get NBI clearances. The so-called guidelines are impossible to comply with given that the scheduled visit will be on December 19.  The so-called memorandum also stated the permit "may be considered," which meant it is not even an assurance that they shall approve the permit, even as we comply with the stringent guidelines.

We have never heard or encountered such guidelines which the BJMP-NCR cites in its memorandum, in the many years that we have been rendering services to political prisoners. We have facilitated hundreds of jail visits of different individuals and groups in different jail facilities across the country, and this is the first time that such strict guidelines are being imposed.

The BJMP visitation policy, one of the agency's documents that enumerates guidelines on prison visitation, states it "is not intended to limit the rights of inmates to visitation but to promote public safety and for the safety and welfare of both the visitors and inmates, (in accord with Paragraph (b) (2), Section 4, R.A. 7438 in conjunction with with Section  63, R.A. 6975)."

Marie Hilao-Enriquez

 SELDA

Chairperson