Lorenzana on call to release vulnerable prisoners: Better for them to stay where they are

March 29, 2020

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Sunday said it is better for prisoners, especially elder inmates, to stay in detention facilities to prevent them from being infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Lorenzana made the statement after the recommendation made by United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet for countries to protect prisoners in overcrowded prisons by releasing them.

Bachelet said consequences on neglecting inmates are “potentially catastrophic."

Lorenzana, also chairman of the National Action Plan to fight COVID-19, questioned the recommendation as releasing inmates will make them even vulnerable to the virus.

“Why? So that they can go around and be infected? Better for them to stay where they are. It is for their own good,” he said.

Earlier, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año assured that persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are safer inside the confines of their detention cells than outside, mingling with the rest of the population as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country continues to rise.

Año claimed that all detention cells are COVID-free and they are the safest place right now.

“With the suspension of visitation rights, the PDLs have no way of contacting the virus and are therefore much safer than all of us who are out in the open and exposed to the movement of people and the virus,” Año said.

“We want people to be in their homes doing home quarantine. Our PDLs are effectively on home quarantine already since they’re locked up,” he added.

According to the secretary, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) has suspended jail visits in all of its 468 BJMP-supervised jail facilities nationwide as early as March 11, even before the declaration of a national public health emergency.

“While the PDLs are incarcerated, we have their welfare in mind. In the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, we are not neglecting the welfare of inmates that’s why as early as possible, BJMP already implemented measures to assure that they are safe from COVID-19,” he said.

He issued the statement after some sectors called for the immediate release of first-time and low-risk offenders so that they will not be in a susceptible condition to acquire COVID-19.

The Department of Interior and Local Government said there are 134,748 PDLs nationwide with Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory having the highest number at 6,237; followed by Manila City Jail with 4,916; and Quezon City Jail with 3,821. Ella Dionisio/DMS