The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been asked to allow the imprisoned wife and son of Jesus Alegre, a 75-year-old and sickly prisoner who died last June 13, to attend the mass and wake on June 18 in Manila.
The plea was contained in a letter sent on Wednesday, June 16, to Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra by Kapatid, a support group for political prisoners.
Kapatid sent the letter in behalf of Alegre’s wife, Moreta, and son, Selman, who are imprisoned at the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City and the National Bilibid Prison (NBP in Muntinlupa City, respectively.
Kapatid told Guevarra: “For compassionate and humanitarian reasons, we request you to please allow the imprisoned wife and son of 75-year-old political prisoner Jesus Alegre to join his wake and the funeral mass scheduled on June 18, Friday, 10 a.m. at the National Cathedral of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente in Taft Avenue, Manila.”
“The wake will be for only one day in consideration of health protocols. After the funeral mass, through financial support, the remains of Jesus Alegre will be flown to his home province of Negros Occidental for burial, in accordance with the wishes of his wife,” Kapatid Spokesperson Fides Lim said.
Lim said that under the Bureau of Corrections’ (BuCor) Security and Safekeeping Procedure, persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are allowed to view the remains of a deceased relative with “the prior approval by the Secretary for the outside movement of an NBP or CIW PDL.”
“With your intercession, this will be the first time in 16 years that Morita will be able to see her husband and to rejoin her family,” Lim told Guevarra.
Another advocacy group said that BuCor officials should be held liable for Alegre’s death.
Human rights group Karapatan, in a statement, said that “by lacking the ability to care for the sick and elderly, and further prolonging Jesus Alegre’s agony of keeping him in jail despite numerous efforts to call for his release, we can only hold the BuCor accountable for his death.”
Through Secretary General Cristina Palabay, Karapatan said: “Negligence spells murder in the case of Jesus Alegre.”