CPDRC manual gets initial approval at PB

CEBU, Philippines - A proposed ordinance seeking to lay down the guidelines of operations at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), including how erring inmates should be punished, is now one step closer to being passed at the Cebu Provincial Board.

Board Member Sun Shimura, who penned the measure, said the proposal is currently being studied at the committee on laws and review on ordinances.

The committee’s report and recommendation would be among the pertinent bases whether or not the measure would be given a green light.

The PB has earlier approved the proposal on first reading. The measure, however, would still undergo second and final reading before it could be submitted to Governor Hilario Davide III for approval.

Shimura, chairman of the PB’s committee on public safety, peace and order, said there is a pressing need to enact a regulatory ordinance to efficiently and effectively manage the Capitol-run facility.

“There is a need to enact an ordinance that will set the operational guidelines, mechanisms and systems to serve as a general and specific guide for the professional and systematic operation and administration of CPDRC by making it in accord with existing laws, rules and regulations,” he said.

The proposed CPDRC manual of operations and administration is aimed at improving and strengthening the jail’s management and corrective and reformative programs for the inmates, among others.

Section 2 of the measure mandates “humane” treatment of the inmates.

“Humane treatment of all inmates shall at all times be paramount in the administration of the facility by respecting the limited rights of the inmates,” Shimura’s draft ordinance reads.

No more cruelty

If Shimura’s proposal gets passed, corporal punishment, confinement in dark or inadequately ventilated cells and any form of “cruel, unusual, inhuman or degrading punishments” will be prohibited in the facility.

Instrument of restraints, such as handcuffs, leg iron and straitjackets, will be also prohibited as punishment.

According to the measure, these should only be used as a precaution against escape and on medical grounds to prevent an inmate from injuring himself or others.

As jail "practice" at CPDRC, the erring inmates are punished physically by the peacemakers. One form of punishment is the "takal," in which the inmate is hit using a paddle.

Lito Granada, the inmates’ “commander,” earlier said that aside from getting a beating, erring inmates are also deprived of visitation rights and placed inside what is commonly called a "bartolina," a narrow dark cell intended for solitary confinement.

Punishment reportedly gets heavier for subsequent infractions, he added.

Former CPDRC officials argued that they allowed such punishments as a means of instilling discipline among inmates and not as a form of maltreatment.

CHR-7 officer-in-charge Arvin Udron, however, said the bartolina system is prohibited by law.

He said the Constitution itself prohibits "secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention" as there may be a tendency that "torture may be carried out thereat with impunity."

Udron said the same is an essential policy of government "to value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full respect for human rights."

Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 was enacted to ensure that human rights of all persons, including suspects, detainees, and prisoners are respected at all times.

CPDRC has been at the center of controversy lately after operatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7 raided the facility for contraband and made all inmates squat naked on the quadrangle, a move that drew criticisms from various quarters including the Commission on Human Rights, the Church, and lately, former governor now Cebu third district Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia.

CHR-7 described the stripping as “worrisome,” Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said it was “improper,” while Garcia brought up the matter in the Lower House and called for a congressional inquiry.

Davide earlier said he authorized the raid but PDEA-7 Director Yogi Felimon Ruiz said he ordered the stripping for his team’s security. (FREEMAN)