More than 600 prisoners are conducting a “silent protest” at the Negros Occidental Jail in Bago City against alleged worsening conditions under the facility’s new warden, political support group Kapatid announced.
The inmates are refusing since Sunday, August 24, to attend jail-initiated activities implemented under newly-assigned warden Jail Inspector Atty. Crisyrel Awe, Kapatid said.
“The ‘silent protest’ reportedly involves boycotting BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) activities such as religious services, Alternative Learning System classes, cleaning duties, and other chores,” Kapatid said in a statement.
Kapatid said the protest stems from serious, well-documented grievances that echo long-standing issues raised since December during Warden Awe’s controversial stint at the Dumaguete City Jail.
In a petition signed by more than 600 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) in Bago City, they accuse Awe of the following:
- Harassment and intimidation prior to formal negotiations
- Non-compliance with the August 24 negotiations (in the presence of human rights lawyers and media practitioners)
- Unjust isolation and padlocking of PDLs
- Irregularities in the implementation of the cashless system (in the PDLs procurement of food and other items)
In its statement, Kapatid added the following complaints:
- Severe reduction in food rations to only 6 PDLs/cell despite the average cell population of 20 PDLs/cell at the NODJ-MD, resulting in widespread hunger;
- Denial of visitation rights by extended family members despite their recognition as immediate family under Republic Act 7438 (Rights of Persons Under Custodial Investigation);
- Cancellation of livelihood programs and PDL-run cooperatives, including vegetable gardening which previously supplemented measly rations and helped sustain indigent inmates;
- Denial of medicines and medical access, affecting even the elderly and sick, including 77-year-old political prisoner Frank Fernandez; and
- Harassment of PDL negotiators, including being confronted in military gear by the warden with armed personnel, which creates “an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty”.
Kapatid said it endorsed the petition to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) national headquarters and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), urging immediate investigation and intervention.
“The collective petition—signed by all PDLs in the facility—marks an unprecedented show of unity that underscores the seriousness and credibility of their grievances. In a highly controlled environment where fear of retaliation is constant, such collective action highlights a deep crisis in jail management and rights observance that demands urgent attention from the BJMP and concerned government agencies,” Lim noted.
Kapatid’s Negros chapter added the protest is a “cry for dignity,” sparked by the increasingly repressive jail management under Warden Awe.
“There is a clear difference between being strict and being repressive. What’s happening is a clear overreach of authority that has crossed into repression and violates the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules), Republic Act 7438 (Rights of Persons Under Custodial Investigation), as well as the BJMP’s own operational guidelines,” Lim stressed.
Kapatid urged BJMP chief Gen. Ruel Rivera to intervene decisively, restore the rights and welfare-based programs that according to PDLs have made NODJ a model jail in the region under three previous reform-minded wardens, and protect PDL leaders from punitive transfer and reprisal.
Kapatid had filed a complaint against Awe last December while he was Dumaguete City Jail Warden for imposing lockdowns against PDLs, forcing them to spend 24 hours inside overcrowded jail cells.
Awe only allowed Dumaguete PDLs to sun themselves once every two weeks, among other severe restrictions on communication, the group added.
Kapatid also called on CHR Chair Richard Palpal-latoc to conduct immediate on-site monitoring of the NODJ-Male Dorm and issue public findings and recommendations to ensure accountability and uphold the rights and welfare of PDLs, including political prisoners.
Palpal-latoc for his part told Kodao the Commission would look into the complaints as he had yet to be fully informed of the ongoing standoff.
The BJMP meanwhile has yet to issue a statement on the matter through its official website and Facebook page. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
