RETURN VISIT Accompanied by human rights lawyer Tony La Viña, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David on Thursday meets with Fides Lim (sporting glasses), spokesperson of Kapatid, and different members of that group based by family of political prisoners, as they current him with a portray by a political detainee. David returned to the Metro Manila District Jail in Taguig Metropolis, his first go to as cardinal, to proceed his custom of celebrating Mass for its inmates. —Contributed photograph
MANILA, Philippines — Kalookan Bishop Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David on Thursday known as for a legislation offering compensation equal to the minimal wage for individuals disadvantaged of liberty (PDLs) who’re finally acquitted.
The cardinal made the decision after celebrating Mass for PDLs on the Metro Manila District Jail in Taguig Metropolis. The Mass coincided with Pope Francis’ scheduled go to to Rebibbia Jail in Rome to mark one of many Catholic Church’s main occasions at first of the Jubilee 12 months 2025, a particular 12 months of forgiveness and pardon.
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“I hope a legislation could be enacted the place all PDLs who aren’t but convicted and are finally acquitted shall be compensated by the federal government, even at minimal wage (round P20,000 per thirty days they have been imprisoned), in order that once they begin their life over, they’ll have capital,” David mentioned, as relayed by the human rights group Kapatid, which initiated the go to.
Below Republic Act No. 7309, victims of unjust imprisonment or detention could also be compensated based mostly on the variety of months of imprisonment or detention. Supplied, nevertheless, that in no case shall such compensation exceed P1,000 per thirty days.
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In all different instances, the Board of Claims can approve a declare of as much as P10,000 or the quantity wanted to cowl bills like hospitalization, medical remedy, misplaced wages, or different injury-related prices, whichever is much less.
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The cardinal began his homily by discussing the cultural nuances in Philippine languages, citing for instance the phrase “tao po” which Filipinos usually use when knocking on the door to examine if somebody is inside the home.
David, a Kapampangan, mentioned that of their province, as an alternative of “tao po,” the same old phrase is “Diyos po”—as if to say that they’re “arriving within the title of Jesus.”
A world with no PDLs
The priest recalled that when he was a toddler, he requested who was knocking on the door when the individual mentioned “Diyos po” to which his grandfather instructed him: “Allow them to in first earlier than asking who they’re. There’s no God who intends hurt.”
David intertwined these reflections with different tales of hospitality and hope, which is the theme of Christmas, together with a retelling of Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables,” specializing in the journey of Jean Valjean, a thief who stole bread and was imprisoned and located redemption by the Church’s kindness.
The cardinal additionally recounted an anecdote from his seminary days throughout the conventional Christmas play “Panunuluyan,” the place a scholar taking part in an innkeeper deviated from the script by permitting Mary and Joseph to enter, saying after the present, “Ayoko, ang sungit ng character ko. Bakit ko itataboy si Jesus?”
David ended the Mass with a prayer: that the Lord’s dream be realized—a world the place there is no such thing as a want for PDLs and the place freedom shines brightly.
Systemic challenges
On Jan. 16, David, then a bishop, had already visited and celebrated Mass for PDLs, marking the primary time a Metro Manila bishop held such an exercise for them within the Taguig compound.
“You might be very lucky as a result of then Bishop Ambo opened the 12 months with a Mass on this jail. He was nonetheless sporting a purple skullcap, and he returns as we speak to shut the 12 months with one other Mass, now sporting a crimson skullcap as a result of he’s a Cardinal,” mentioned Gerry Bernabe, nationwide coordinator of the Catholic Bishops’ Convention of the Philippines’ Episcopal Fee on Jail Pastoral Care, throughout the gathering.
After the Mass, held on the fifth ground of a constructing housing a number of the distinguished political prisoners within the nation, David engaged with PDLs as they detailed the systemic challenges they confronted, comparable to overcrowding, insufficient meals and medical providers, and the sluggish tempo of justice.
Political prisoner and Nationwide Democratic Entrance of the Philippines peace advisor Adelberto Silva highlighted the inhumane situations in Philippine prisons, which rank among the many most overcrowded globally.
“We hope, Cardinal David, that along with your assist, consciousness could be raised in regards to the grave points Filipino prisoners face, so we could push for reforms within the jail and justice methods, in addition to pursue simply peace in our nation,” Silva mentioned.
David known as for the discharge of political prisoners as a significant first step towards the Jubilee 12 months’s Pilgrimage of Hope and reiterated his want for a peaceable decision to the world’s longest-running insurgency by resumed peace talks.
757 political prisoners
Peasant rights group Tanggol Magsasaka, in the meantime, known as for the speedy launch of the 757 political prisoners “unjustly detained” in detention services across the nation.
“These people—farmers, labor organizers, city poor advocates, media practitioners, educators, environmental defenders, human rights advocates and peace employees—are incarcerated on fabricated prices designed to stifle dissent and intimidate activists and authorities critics,” the group mentioned in an announcement.
Amongst them are activist Amanda Echanis and journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, each of whom have been arrested in 2020 for unlawful possession of firearms and explosives.
The group additionally known as for the discharge of aged prisoners, comparable to alleged New Individuals’s Military members Rosita Taboy and Evangeline Rapanut, in addition to peace advisor Frank Fernandez and his spouse Cleofe Lagtapon.
Tanggol Magsasaka famous that out of the 757 political prisoners within the nation, 156 have been girls whereas 103 have been a part of the aged. Their continued detention, notably as they endure worsening situations behind bars, “is a violation of their human rights and a blight on our nation’s democracy.”
Citing reviews from human rights teams Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda) and Karapatan, Tanggol Magsasaka criticized the “deplorable situations” inside the nation’s detention services.
Political detainees, the group mentioned, need to endure “overcrowding, insufficient medical care and the psychological toll of extended unjust imprisonment.”
Tanggol Magsasaka identified that the nation stays a signatory to the Common Declaration of Human Rights, which “explicitly ensures the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceable meeting and safety in opposition to arbitrary detention.”
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“The existence of political prisoners starkly contravenes these common rights and tarnishes our nation’s dedication to justice and democracy,” Tanggol Magsasaka mentioned. —with a report from Gillian Villanueva
