Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra was urged on Thursday, Sept. 2, to get more persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Kapatid, a support group for political prisoners and their families, reminded Guevarra of his statement last April 13 that “he will seek the prioritization of PDLs in immunization efforts because of ‘greater COVID-19 risks’ brought about by ‘overcrowding’ in jails.”
“What happened to Justice Secretary Guevarra’s statement that his office will seek the inclusion of PDLs from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) in the government’s priority list for vaccination?” asked Kapatid Spokesperson Fides Lim in a statement.
“The government should elevate PDLs from the lowly B9 category and directly allocate financial resources for their immunization instead of engaging in a policy spree of arrests, including politically motivated arrests, which only worsen jail congestions,” Lim said.
Kapatid lamented that only 2,684 PDLs have been vaccinated among the more than 48,000 inmates in BuCor facilities and only 10,939 of 119,692 PDLs in BJMP jails have received their vaccines.
It pointed out that only eight of the 713 political prisoners in the country have received COVID-19 doses.
“Five political prisoners have already died since the start of the pandemic in the very regions which the COA (Commission on Audit) identified as having the highest jail congestion rates: Calabarzon, 619 per cent, followed by Central Luzon, 609 per cent; and Metro Manila, 595 percent,” Lim stressed.