The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) strongly condemns a memorandum reportedly issued by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) directing jail wardens to impose “close monitoring” measures on persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) suspected of being members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or its allied organizations.

While its issuance has not been officially confirmed, the reported contents of the memorandum, dated January 10, 2025, suggest draconian measures including the surveillance and review of “all correspondence, visitor interactions, and external communications” of detainees, along with so-called “behavioral monitoring” to assess security risks and stringent visitor background checks and approvals.

It is both ludicrous and deeply concerning that a government agency tasked with overseeing jail management would consider an unverified Facebook post from an unreformed red-tagger as sufficient basis for policy. The post, made by a retired military general and former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson, accuses Rep. France Castro of the ACT Party-List of “frequenting jail facilities to solicit funds from drug traffickers for the said party-list group through the efforts of detained suspected members of the CPP.”

The NUPL denounces the reported directive as a glaring example of McCarthyism. Like the ideological witch hunts of the past, these measures target individuals based solely on suspicion, ideological profiling, and unverified allegations.

These measures moreover mandate blatant violations of international and domestic human rights laws. They undermine the presumption of innocence enshrined in the Constitution (Article III, Section 14) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by imposing punitive measures without trial. They also violate the right to privacy and human dignity, as affirmed in the ICCPR (Article 17), by subjecting detainees to invasive surveillance and severely restricting essential correspondence and visitor interactions. Moreover, obstructing access to legal representation, a right guaranteed under the Constitution (Article III, Section 12), further compromises detainees’ right to fair trial. The psychological toll inflicted by isolation and heightened monitoring amounts to cruel and degrading treatment.

These measures starkly violate the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), which emphasize humane treatment, access to legal counsel, and freedom from degrading practices. Specifically, Rule 61 of these Rules mandates that prisoners’ correspondence and communication must not be unduly restricted unless justified by legitimate disciplinary or security concerns, which this memorandum fails to establish.

Furthermore, the accusation against Rep. Castro is not only baseless and ridiculous but also a calculated attempt to malign a legitimate and progressive party-list that has consistently represented the interests of teachers and education workers. The timing of this red-tagging and vilification during election season is deeply suspicious, clearly aimed at undermining ACT Party-List’s advocacy and electoral chances.

The NUPL calls on the BJMP to clarify its position regarding the reported memorandum and to withdraw any directives that would institutionalize harassment or repression against political prisoners. We further urge the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to launch a comprehensive investigation into the reported measures, their legality, and their impact on the conditions of detainees, including cases of denied visitation rights, and reports of NTF-ELCAC operatives pressuring detainees to make extrajudicial confessions or surrenders without the presence of counsel.

This reported form of repression betrays a regime that grasps at the tattered threads of disinformation and surveillance in the hope of stifling opposition where it thrives—among the marginalized, the silenced, and the imprisoned. Measures like this memorandum, steeped in the paranoia of modern-day McCarthyism, must be exposed, resisted, and dismantled in the name of our democratic rights and freedoms. #

Reference:

Atty. Josalee S. Deinla

NUPL Secretary General

+639174316396