The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will be conducting a motu propio investigation on the Caloocan jail riot that occurred Monday, 10 January 2022. Reports indicate at least six persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) have died as a result of the incident while at least thirty PDLs were injured in the altercation between rival groups.

We recall that just this month, CHR investigated another incident that occurred in Bilibid leading to the deaths of three PDLs (https://bit.ly/3G9ROWR). In both incidents, improvised weapons were used to injure and possibly kill.

CHR is concerned with this trend of jail riots, its common occurrence and use of contraband weapons. We reiterate our call for detention officials to increase efforts on clearing operations to ensure that no PDL has access to deadly weapons. As the Caloocan city jail is under the supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and it has already announced the start of its investigation, we hope that their probe would yield concrete solutions to help prevent the re-occurrence of such incidences.

CHR as the lead agency in the Interim National Preventive Mechanism consistently recommends measures to combat all forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment inside prisons. We urge jail wardens and officials to take cognizance of this incident and investigate whether security lapses were committed in previous contraband clearing operations to ensure that this incident will no longer be repeated.