SEN. Richard J. Gordon has cited the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) endorsement of his Senate Bill 1771 that once enacted into law mandates prison officials to render accurate reporting of deaths and illnesses of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), including detained children in conflict with law (CICL).
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Gordon pressed for the early enactment of the CHR-backed SB 1771, to be known as the Death in Custody Reporting Law, noting it “comes at a judicious time to institute further reforms in our penal system.”
Citing unsolicited affirmation of the need for the remedial legislation, the senator acknowledged, “We appreciate the support to the measure which addresses growing public doubts, if not at all suspicions, about the mysterious circumstances behind untimely death of some high-profile inmates, especially during public health crisis.”
He affirmed receiving reports that most of the time, the true cause of death of some inmates were kept confidential even from relatives, with prison officials simply claiming the prisoners committed suicide.
Gordon recalled that last December 18, CHR Spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia even lauded the filing of the bill, which she said would “ensure a transparent justice system and a humane treatment of all PDLs and CICLs in the country.”
He noted that the CHR official acknowledged that the bill, once passed into law, would be an effective deterrent against cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment against detained persons in line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules.
Gordon added: “Being the lead agency in the Interim National Preventive Mechanism, de Guia said the CHR consistently supports actions and additional safeguards that would improve the well-being and situation of PDLs and CICLs.”
Still, the senator recalled that Human Rights Watch has “suspected that the government has not reported accurately the deaths that occurred in the country’s overcrowded prisons and jails during this pandemic brought about by the new coronavirus disease 2019 [Covid-19].”
Gordon’s Senate Bill 1771 mandates the monthly filing of reports of PDLs or CICLs convicted of a heinous crime or crimes punishable by reclusion perpetua to the CHR, along with Justice, Interior, and Social Welfare departments, and the Supreme Court.
“An automatic motu propio investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation will be triggered if the PDL or CICL had died due to mysterious circumstances and must collate evidence proving cause of death,” the senator said, adding that “non-reporting will be punishable by six to 12-year imprisonment, on top of a fine ranging from P500,000 to P1,000,000.”
Moreover, Gordon warned that the remedial legislation, once enacted into law, will also enforce a provision that “false reporting, or an escape committed by PDL or CICL due to it will merit an equivalent sentence to the offending party appropriated to the prisoner and fines ranging from P500,000 to P5,000,000.”
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