Lawyers of detained activist Reina Mae Nasino are looking into the possibility of filing administrative charges against officers of the Bureau of Jail Management (BJMP) and citing them for contempt over the handling of her furlough.
(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Yes, we will seriously study that legal option,” National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) president Edre Olalia said.
Olalia said Reina should be allowed to grieve over her deceased three-month-old baby daughter River.
“But given the whirlwind of contemporaneous events and issues at hand, we will choose our battles and fight them at the right time,” Olalia said.
“We seek emotional moratorium meanwhile until the dust of the vortex of incredible cruelty and barbarity has settled,” he added.
Last Tuesday, Presiding Judge Paulino Gallegos of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47 issued an order which granted the motion of Nasino that was filed by her NUPL lawyers that allowed her furlough to visit the wake and burial of her baby from Oct. 14 to 16.
However, Gallegos issued another order on Wednesday which reduced the hours of her furlough following appeals made by the BJMP that the Manila City Jail Female Dormitory only has 12 personnel.
In his Oct. 14 order, Gallegos allowed Nasino to go to the wake of her daughter from 1 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 14 at the La Funeraria Rey in Pandacan, Manila and to the burial at the Manila North Cemetery on Friday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Olalia said the BJMP was lying in its appeal. The NUPL said that 47 fully armed jail and police officers escorted Reina from the Manila City Jail to the La Funeraria Rey Thursday.
“The police, armed with high powered firearms, surrounded the funeral home, while seven jail officers closely guarded Ina inside,” the NUPL said.
“But worse than the deception and overkill, was the escorts' cruel and inhumane treatment of the grieving mother,” it lamented.