CHR-7 set to review CPDRC manual

CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights(CHR)-7 is set to review the operations manual of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center(CPDRC).

CHR will come up with a position paper that would be used as the basis for the revisions that the Provincial Board (PB) will be making.

This was the result of last week’s discussion among officials of the CHR-7, Governor Hilario Davide III, and PB Member Sun Shimura, who authored the manual.

“Among i-review ang manual sa operation sa CPDRC and then we will recommend nga i-incorporate (ang) human rights standards,” said CHR Regional Director Arvin Odron.

The said jail operations manual was the first manual made by the provincial government.

Davide welcomes CHR’s help because provincial governments, he said, are not experts in running jails unlike the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Odron said the PB did not tap the CHR when the ordinance was passed in May 2017.

Although everything in the manual will be reviewed by the CHR, there are specific areas that the agency will focus on, such as the suspension of visitations rights or privileges and the conduct of greyhound operations.

Odron said that reviewing the manual is one way of helping the local government in managing the facility, while ensuring that the inalienable rights of the inmates are preserved.

“Ang issue ana is pwede ba i-suspend sa state or sa local government ang human rights temporarily for the common good,” he said.

Meanwhile, Davide said the jail facility management is also profiling the inmates if they are detainees or convicts.

He added that the data is already there, but it needs to be sorted out.

According to an earlier interview with CHR Senior Investigator Leo Villarino, there is a nuance between convicts and detainees.

Detainees have visitation rights, while convicts only have privileges which can, therefore, be suspended.

“Some of our human rights are derogable, pwede i-suspend sa local government. Three days while the management is still investigating para ma-prevent ang entry sa contrabands (is) okay ra nako,” said Odron.

He continued that he personally believes that it is permissible to suspend some of the inmates’ rights for the common good, but not take away human rights. (FREEMAN)