Political prisoners subjected all the more to heavy congestion and poor health conditions

We, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) peace consultants and other political prisoners presently detained at the Special Intensive Care Area 1 (SICA 1) Jail, Camp Bagong Diwa, protest the foul and cruel transfer of seven fellow political prisoners (including three fellow NDF peace consultants, Adel Silva, Eduardo Serrano and Ruben Saluta) from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center to this jail.

While we welcome very much being together, we protest the lies that the PNP Headquarters Support Services (HSS) used to justify the pretext for the transfer. One is supposedly to decongest the PNP Custodial Centre.

The fact is that, at the PNP Custodial Center, there are only one or, at the most, two detainees per cell, while at the part of the SICA 1 Jail, where political prisoners are detained, there have already been four to five per cell before the transfer. (The prison cells at the PNP Custodial Center and here at the SICA 1 Jail are of practically the same size.) The transfer here of seven political prisoners, made right after the anniversary of the declaration of martial law, has only made the political prisoners’ quarters here at the SICA 1 Jail all the more congested: There are now five to six political prisoners per cell — with no more bed spaces (so that some of us have to sleep on the floor) and all the more conducive to various health problems.

Worse, most of the political prisoners transferred are elderly, have serious health problems, and would suffer all the more the very unhealthy heavy congestion of political prisoners’ quarters here at the SICA 1 Jail.

Alan Jazmines
Ernesto Lorenzo
Tirso Alcantara
NDF peace consultants
and other political prisoners