THE spokesperson of Kapatid, a support group of friends and relatives of political prisoners, yesterday called on Congress to launch an inquiry into what she described as the systematic abuses happening inside the Bureau of Corrections’ (BuCor) facilities.
Fides Lim, wife of detained NDFP peace consultant Vicente “Vic” Ladlad, issued the call after the BuCor on Monday announced that she was barred from entering the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City and other operating prison and penal farms of the agency due to “repeated violations of corrections protocol and unruly behavior.”
Lim and Kapatid said their call to scrutinize the BuCor budget and the condition inside the NBP and the six prison and penal farms the agency manages is timely, considering that Congress will convene for its 20th regular session on July 28 and deliberations on the national budget kick off.
The group cited “persistent rights violations, subhuman prison conditions, and the arbitrary permanent ban on Lim from visiting political prisoners.”
“Where does the budget of BuCor really go? Despite funding for so-called ‘security upgrades — and the use of actual x-ray machines — the BuCor enforces irrational, arbitrary, and oppressive procedures, especially against those visiting political prisoners who are well known not to engage in illegal drugs,” Lim said in a statement.
Lim said her permanent ban from BuCor facilities, ordered by Director General Gregorio Catapang, is “retaliation for her vocal criticism and frequent appeals to the Department of Justice to intervene.
“When you speak up like I do, you’re labeled ‘disruptive’ and banned for ‘unruly behavior.’ But it’s their so-called ‘correctional protocols’ that should be investigated and overhauled, not covered up by banning those who push back for reform,” Lim stressed.
“I have to actually welcome the ban because while personally distressing, it forces public attention to what families and persons deprived of liberty, including political prisoners, endure,” she added.
Lim said relatives of political prisoners are sometimes scared to protest out of fear that BuCor authorities may not allow them to visit their detained loved ones.
She added that these bureaucratic restrictions only worsen hunger and illness due to severe restrictions on food and vital necessities for the political prisoners.
“Congress must demand more than just the usual performance report that bureaucrats submit to cloak dysfunction and abuse. It must demand real transparency and accountability. If public funds are being used to violate rights, silence advocates, and keep PDLs — including political prisoners — in inhumane conditions, the BuCor’s budget must be put under the microscope,” Lim added.
