De Lima chides PAO for failure to act on detainees due for release
By Hannah Torregoza
Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday scored the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for failing to act on the immediate release of some 862 detainees from prison under a new law adjusting the penalties for light offenses.
Senator Leila de Lima
(REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN)
De Lima, chair of the Senate committee on social justice, welfare and rural development, said PAO’s neglect of its public duties showed its mockery of the Philippine justice system.
“Just because no one is watching, just because no one is keeping count, doesn’t grant unbridled license to be neglectful of public duties,” de Lima said in her recent statement.
“This is the attitude that we should maintain in government service,” she added.
The Senate’s deliberation on the proposed national budget for 2019, Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon disclosed that 862 inmates who are already due for release, remain locked up.
This is despite the passage of Republic Act No. 10951, which was filed to benefit detainees with petty crimes and long prison sentences. The law amended the Revised Penal Code and adjusted conditions for the imposition of prison time and fines on criminal offenders.
“Apparently, however, some officials in the current administration display a different mindset. Nagpapabaya sa tungkulin. Papetiks-petiks. Dedma,” de Lima noted.
De Lima took to task PAO Chief Persida Acosta who she said should have already been facilitating the release of these inmates.
“Anong ginagawa ni Atty. Persida Acosta at ng PAO sa kanilang mandato sa ilalim ng RA 10951? (What is Atty. Persida Acosta and PAO doing with their mandate under RA 10951?)” de Lima asked.
“How could they sleep at night knowing that only two out of 862 qualified prisoners have been released since the passage of said law a little over a year ago?” she stressed.
The former justice secretary reminded that prisoners are human beings who are also entitled to fair treatment, noting that imprisonment is neither a license to have them languish in the dark forever, nor is it a death sentence.
“Let us listen to the experts and reform advocates: treat prisoners like the human beings they really are. Rehabilitate them for someday they will be reintegrated back to society,” she said.
“Babalik sila sa ating lipunan balang araw. Nais ba natin na bumalik sila na nababalot ng poot at dilim at galit sa pagpapawalang-halaga sa kanilang karapatang pantao? (They are returning to our society one day. Do we want them to return with hatred and anger after their rights were trampled?)” she pointed out.
“Let us then plant seeds of hope and respect in our prisoners and their families. Let us finally uproot the weeds of mistrust and misgivings in our midst,” she added.
De Lima earlier filed Senate Bill No. 1879 which seeks to integrate the management of the country’s jails and prisons under one agency tasked to provide better treatment and rehabilitation programs for all detainees and prisoners.
She also filed SB No. 2130 which also sought prison reform and restorative justice in the country’s correctional system, bearing in mind the need to restore human dignity even as to these found to have transgressed the country’s laws.