The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) supports the appeal of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) to the Office of the President (OP) for the grant of executive clemency to 301 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) composed mostly of those elderly and ailing.

In line with the Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters, of which the Philippines is a signatory, it is incumbent upon the government to ensure a more enlightened and humane correctional system that will promote the reformation and eventual reintegration of offenders, particularly the most vulnerable ones who have duly demonstrated that they qualify for clemency.

At a time when Philippine detention facilities and prisons face congestion problems, keeping elderly and other PDLs with comorbidities in congested spaces increases their likelihood of acquiring diseases that may either shorten their life or cause their death. To put vulnerable PDLs in situations that pose great peril to their health is tantamount to cruel and inhumane treatment.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts primacy to the protection and promotion of the right of every person to liberty and due process. These basic rights cover not only fair trial and proceedings, but also include the order of release if justified and merited. Such is the importance of these rights that the 1987 Constitution, under Article 7, Section 19, provides powers to the President to grant pardon and other acts of clemency.

PAO emphasized that the 301 PDLs have undergone the processes and passed the legal standards to qualify for executive clemency. Their release is overdue considering that said PDLs were also previously recommended for release in the past administration and again recommended by the current Department of Justice (DOJ). Aside from humanitarian considerations, CHR joins the call for the release of the PDLs given that they have shown good behavior, pose no threat to society, and meet the legal standards for clemency as determined by PAO. In addition, granting them clemency would also greatly benefit the current ongoing jail decongestion efforts. We are hopeful of the urgent action of the OP on this appeal.

CHR also takes this opportunity to commend the efforts of PAO to continue assessing around 3,000 cases of PDLs that have been returned by OP for further scrutiny as this manifest commitment to restorative penal system. We also thank the collective efforts of the DOJ, PAO, and the Bureau of Corrections for the recent release of 371 inmates and we hope that current decongestion efforts will be sustained.

In a similar vein, we ask the government to equally review cases of individuals allegedly being targeted using the legal system for their political affiliations and/or for being critics of the government. A genuine restorative justice system necessitates the equal application of due process for all persons in detention in keeping with human rights standards.

For our part, CHR continues to commit in helping improve the condition in jails and other detention facilities in line with our mandate to conduct jail visits and through our role as the country’s interim National Preventive Mechanism. ###