Is justice served?

As far as he is concerned, President Rodrigo Duterte wishes to take no prisoners in the government’s all out war against Abu Sayyaf bandits. As Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), President Duterte declared his policy of no mercy to any Abu Sayyaf bandit as equal response to their merciless and brutal ways of beheading their kidnap victims.

In fact, President Duterte offered P1 million “tipster” reward for any information to the presence of any Abu Sayyaf leader or members that would lead government authorities to their whereabouts. The latest presidential directives were issued during the inspection visit made last week in Bohol prior to the hosting by the province of the ministerial meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In joint operations with the Philippine National Police (PNP), six Abu Sayyaf bandits, including Abu Rami who is tagged as one of the group’s sub-leaders, were killed in the clash at Inabanga in Bohol. The hot pursuit operations led to the town of Clarin, also in Bohol, where they killed last Saturday one of the seven Abu bandits who got away.

At the outset, President Duterte declared he wants the Abu Sayyaf “preferably dead” than captured alive. President Duterte succinctly justified his “kill” order against Abu Sayyaf bandits. The President said it would only mean added mouths to feed if any of the Abus – claiming alliance with the deadly international terror group Islamic State (IS) – is captured alive.

According to Bureau of Corrections director-general Benjamin delos Santos, there are at least eight Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members currently being fed by taxpayers’ money at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City. The eight Abu Sayyaf and JI bandits, convicted for murder and kidnapping cases, are serving their jail term among fellow 57 inmates from violent extremist organizations (VEOs).

During our Kapihan sa Manila Bay last Wednesday, the BuCor chief disclosed the eight VEO convicts are among the 24,605 now being housed at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

The eight VEO convicts, according to the BuCor chief, are considered “high security risks” inmates at the NBP.

Abiding by the United Nations (UN) Mandela rule on humane treatment, Delos Santos said they are no longer called as inmates, convicts, or prisoners. Under this UN rule, he cited, they are now referred to as “persons deprived of liberty” or PDL for short. Or should we say, this is more of politically correct term.

The BuCor chief cited the Philippine government conforms with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime that set the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners in 1957. But in 2015, these were revised and adopted as the Nelson Mandela Rules in honor of the late President of South Africa, who spent 27 years in jail as a political prisoner.

Since he took over in December last year, Delos Santos said he has been implementing rehabilitation and reformation program under the so-called Mandela rules on the minimum humanitarian treatment of the UN Protocols. These are applied to all PDLs also in five other penal colonies under the supervision of the BuCor to prepare them for their return to mainstream society, he pointed out.

As part of his reforms at the BuCor-run facilities, Delos Santos blacklisted the contractor that has monopolized since 2008 the catering services at P50 a day for meals of PDLs at NBP. Delos Santos announced the public bidding for catering will be held next month at a raised meals rate of P60 per day.

More than the PDL term, he noted with concern the prevailing state of the NBP of being over-congested like most of the jails elsewhere in Metro Manila.

Per UN standards, he cited, the ratio of prison guard to PDL should be 1 guard to 7 PDLs. But in the case at the NBP, the ratio stands at 1:300.

Helping them secure the NBP are the 400 Special Action Forces (SAF) that DOJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II requested from PNP director-general Ronald dela Rosa to beef up security at the NBP. The SAF men were initially deployed to implement “Oplan Galugad” to rid off the NBP from illegal drugs trade.

Delos Santos believes they have already purged the NBP from the many “kubols” where notorious high-profile drug convicts have smuggled and stashed luxury items from appliances to mobile phones.

Among the priority programs on his table, Delos Santos said is the full implementation of the Prison Modernization program which includes the salary upgrade of prison personnel and the regionalization of all state-run penitentiaries under the BuCor for PDLs sentenced to six years up imprisonment.

Those convicted for jail term of three years and less are imprisoned at provincial, city and municipal jails that are supervised by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). The BJMP is an attached agency of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

As BuCor chief, Delos Santos also supervises five other state penal colonies that include the controversial Tadeco Davao Penal Colony (Dapecol) which is the subject of feud between two staunch allies of President Duterte, namely, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Davao del Norte Rep.Tonyboy Floreindo.

Delos Santos declined to comment on the feud of Alvarez and Floreindo because of the projected congressional inquiry into the Tadeco contract with DOJ on the Dapecol. Except to note: “But BuCor will benefit out of the controversy by way of added income for BuCor and PDL workers in Tadeco.”

He argued though against the plans to move the NBP to Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija which he likens to just transferring the problem from one place to another. He recommended instead to transfer PDLs to other state penal colonies so that they can be closer to their families to visit them.

As to the possible restoration of death penalty, the BuCor chief awaits which mode will President Duterte sign into law. A retired police general, Delos Santos supports death penalty as effective crime deterrent. The electric chair, the lethal injection chamber, or the garrote for hanging are all just stashed at the NBP’s museum, he quipped.

Without the death penalty law yet, the eight Abu Sayyafs who are now called PDLs serving life-term for their heinous crimes are getting such humane treatment. Is justice being served to their victims by these UN protocols on human rights for PDLs?