Victims of unjust detention have to be compensated

RETURN VISIT Accompanied by human rights lawyer Tony La Viña, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David on Thursday meets with Fides Lim (sporting glasses), spokesperson of Kapatid, and different members of that group based by family members of political prisoners, as they current him with a portray by a political detainee. David returned to the Metro Manila District Jail in Taguig Metropolis, his first go to as cardinal, to proceed his custom of celebrating Mass for its inmates. —Contributed photograph

MANILA, Philippines — Kalookan Bishop Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David on Thursday known as for a legislation offering compensation equal to the minimal wage for individuals disadvantaged of liberty (PDLs) who’re ultimately acquitted.

The cardinal made the decision after celebrating Mass for PDLs on the Metro Manila District Jail in Taguig Metropolis. The Mass coincided with Pope Francis’ scheduled go to to Rebibbia Jail in Rome to mark one of many Catholic Church’s main occasions originally of the Jubilee 12 months 2025, a particular yr of forgiveness and pardon.

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“I hope a legislation will be enacted the place all PDLs who should not but convicted and are ultimately acquitted will likely be compensated by the federal government, even at minimal wage (round P20,000 monthly they have been imprisoned), in order that after they begin their life over, they’ll have capital,” David stated, as relayed by the human rights group Kapatid, which initiated the go to.

Beneath Republic Act No. 7309, victims of unjust imprisonment or detention could also be compensated based mostly on the variety of months of imprisonment or detention. Supplied, nevertheless, that in no case shall such compensation exceed P1,000 monthly.

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In all different circumstances, the Board of Claims can approve a declare of as much as P10,000 or the quantity wanted to cowl bills like hospitalization, medical remedy, misplaced wages, or different injury-related prices, whichever is much less.

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The cardinal began his homily by discussing the cultural nuances in Philippine languages, citing for example the phrase “tao po” which Filipinos typically use when knocking on the door to examine if somebody is inside the home.

David, a Kapampangan, stated that of their province, as a substitute of “tao po,” the same old phrase is “Diyos po”—as if to say that they’re “arriving within the identify of Jesus.”

A world with no PDLs

The priest recalled that when he was a baby, he requested who was knocking on the door when the particular person stated “Diyos po” to which his grandfather informed him: “Allow them to in first earlier than asking who they’re. There’s no God who intends hurt.”

David intertwined these reflections with different tales of hospitality and hope, which is the theme of Christmas, together with a retelling of Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables,” specializing in the journey of Jean Valjean, a thief who stole bread and was imprisoned and located redemption by the Church’s kindness.

The cardinal additionally recounted an anecdote from his seminary days through the conventional Christmas play “Panunuluyan,” the place a scholar taking part in an innkeeper deviated from the script by permitting Mary and Joseph to enter, saying after the present, “Ayoko, ang sungit ng character ko. Bakit ko itataboy si Jesus?”

David ended the Mass with a prayer: that the Lord’s dream be realized—a world the place there is no such thing as a want for PDLs and the place freedom shines brightly.

Systemic challenges

On Jan. 16, David, then a bishop, had already visited and celebrated Mass for PDLs, marking the primary time a Metro Manila bishop held such an exercise for them within the Taguig compound.

“You might be very lucky as a result of then Bishop Ambo opened the yr with a Mass on this jail. He was nonetheless sporting a purple skullcap, and he returns immediately to shut the yr with one other Mass, now sporting a crimson skullcap as a result of he’s a Cardinal,” stated Gerry Bernabe, nationwide coordinator of the Catholic Bishops’ Convention of the Philippines’ Episcopal Fee on Jail Pastoral Care, through the gathering.

After the Mass, held on the fifth ground of a constructing housing a few of the outstanding political prisoners within the nation, David engaged with PDLs as they detailed the systemic challenges they confronted, equivalent to overcrowding, insufficient meals and medical companies, and the gradual tempo of justice.

Political prisoner and Nationwide Democratic Entrance of the Philippines peace advisor Adelberto Silva highlighted the inhumane situations in Philippine prisons, which rank among the many most overcrowded globally.

“We hope, Cardinal David, that along with your assist, consciousness will be raised concerning the grave points Filipino prisoners face, so we could push for reforms within the jail and justice methods, in addition to pursue simply peace in our nation,” Silva stated.

David known as for the discharge of political prisoners as a significant first step towards the Jubilee 12 months’s Pilgrimage of Hope and reiterated his want for a peaceable decision to the world’s longest-running insurgency by resumed peace talks.

757 political prisoners

Peasant rights group Tanggol Magsasaka, in the meantime, known as for the fast launch of the 757 political prisoners “unjustly detained” in detention services across the nation.

“These people—farmers, labor organizers, city poor advocates, media practitioners, educators, environmental defenders, human rights advocates and peace employees—are incarcerated on fabricated fees designed to stifle dissent and intimidate activists and authorities critics,” the group stated in a press release.

Amongst them are activist Amanda Echanis and journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, each of whom have been arrested in 2020 for unlawful possession of firearms and explosives.

The group additionally known as for the discharge of aged prisoners, equivalent to alleged New Individuals’s Military members Rosita Taboy and Evangeline Rapanut, in addition to peace advisor Frank Fernandez and his spouse Cleofe Lagtapon.

Tanggol Magsasaka famous that out of the 757 political prisoners within the nation, 156 have been girls whereas 103 have been a part of the aged. Their continued detention, significantly as they endure worsening situations behind bars, “is a violation of their human rights and a blight on our nation’s democracy.”

Citing experiences from human rights teams Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda) and Karapatan, Tanggol Magsasaka criticized the “deplorable situations” inside the nation’s detention services.

Political detainees, the group stated, should endure “overcrowding, insufficient medical care and the psychological toll of extended unjust imprisonment.”

Tanggol Magsasaka identified that the nation stays a signatory to the Common Declaration of Human Rights, which “explicitly ensures the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceable meeting and safety in opposition to arbitrary detention.”

“The existence of political prisoners starkly contravenes these common rights and tarnishes our nation’s dedication to justice and democracy,” Tanggol Magsasaka stated. —with a report from Gillian Villanueva