BUREAU of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. yesterday said his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are supportive of Manila’s initiative to come up with an agreement that will allow the transfer of sentenced persons back to their respective homelands.
Catapang said his ASEAN counterparts have agreed to pursue the matter during their high-level meeting as part of the four-day 2nd Asean Regional Correctional Conference (ARCC) being hosted by the BuCor together with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. The regional conference will wrap up today, Tuesday.
“I think that will be pursued because we had a high-level meeting among ASEAN countries and we agreed since we are like brothers and sisters. I think that’s one area that we can pursue, the prison transfer arrangements,” Catapang told reporters who covered the event.
“I think all the ASEAN are willing because we are brothers, we want to develop that camaraderie, oneness, togetherness, and we are all similarly situated,” he added.
The BuCor chief said such an agreement will have significant benefits, including humanitarian considerations and easing the burden on foreign prison systems.
But Catapang said any agreement on the potential ASEAN-wide prisoner swap would have to be elevated to higher offices since it is a diplomatic matter.
He also said a final agreement on the matter may take a while due to legal and diplomatic issues, especially since each country has its laws.
Catapang said other countries in ASEAN have the death penalty under their laws while Manila does not have one.
The regional bloc is composed of the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos.
Timor Leste, which aspires to be a member, has been granted observer status.
Meanwhile, Department of Justice-Legal Division Lawyer Mildred Bernadette Alvor told the ARCC delegates that the proposed agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons back to their respective countries aims for “humanitarian consideration and protection, inclusiveness, universality and equality.”
“These are good for good people pursuing legitimate purposes. Unfortunately, people with criminal intent also benefit from the advancement of technology because criminals no longer confine their activities within one country’s borders,” Alvor added.
BuCor data as of last month showed 354 foreigners are serving prison terms in various detention facilities in the country. Of these, 24 are from ASEAN countries.
Data also showed 414 foreigners are currently detained in various jails in the country awaiting the resolution of their cases. Thirty of them are from ASEAN countries.
The DOJ official said it was not the first time that Manila proposed such an agreement, adding that the DOJ made the first recommendation in 2017 during the ASEAN Law Forum hosted by the country.
The Philippines has three bilateral agreements covering the transfer of sentenced persons with Spain, Thailand and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. A similar agreement with the United Kingdom and Canada has yet to take effect.
Last week, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla signed various treaties with the United Arab Emirates involving matters such as the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, extradition and the transfer of sentenced persons.
Even without a formal agreement to cover the transfer of sentenced persons, Jakarta in December last year transferred to Manila the custody of Mary Jane Veloso to serve her sentence.
Veloso was convicted and sentenced to death by an Indonesian court after authorities arrested her at the Yogyakarta airport for bringing in more than two kilograms of heroin.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo stopped Veloso’s execution on April 29, 2015 upon the intercession of then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who argued that her testimony was vital in the case she filed against her alleged recruiters.
Indonesia later reduced Veloso’s sentence to life imprisonment. Before her return to the Philippines, she had spent nearly 15 years in prison in Indonesia.
