In the spirit of Christmas, families of political prisoners have appealed to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to allow the delivery of food packs for their loved ones detained at the Manila City Jail.
Kapatid, a support group for families and friends of political prisoners, wrote Chief Inspectors Elena Rocamora and Maria Ignacia Monteron to request that they be allowed to bring in food packs at the jail facility on December 23.
Rocamora and Monteron are the wardens of the prison’s male and female dormitories, respectively.
“This is our way of uplifting the spirit of our political prisoners,” Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said in a letter addressed to the two wardens dated Dec. 18, noting that their families can’t still visit them due to the coronavirus lockdown.
The group sought its permission from the BJMP for the delivery of food packs to 10 political prisoners, one of them, Reina Mae Nasino.
Nasino gave birth while under police custody on July 1. She and her baby, River, were separated on August 13 despite the child needing to be breastfed.
A Manila regional trial court junked Nasino’s appeal to care for her child, who died the next month because of acute respiratory distress syndrome.
“We are aware that there are schedules per PDL (persons deprived of liberty) to bring in food items. However, as it is the Christmas season, the families and staff will cook and prepare food for joint delivery,” Lim said.
“For purpose of time and cost-savings and more efficient service, we also request that the relatives and staff be allowed to bring food and other essentials on the same day for all political prisoners per dormitory,” she added.