Persons deprived of liberty
It’s high time to establish a mechanism that any executive judge could supervise – operationalizing the ‘writ of kalayaan.’
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It’s high time to establish a mechanism that any executive judge could supervise – operationalizing the ‘writ of kalayaan.’
It shall come to pass that whom the world puts the unflattering tag "persons deprived of liberty" — euphemism for prisoners, inmates, detainees — could breathe a sigh of relief, if and when, the High Tribunal itself would have drafted a proposed "writ of kalayaan." A strong advocate in residence is right-mindedly inclined to shepherd its approval — as an institutional mechanism — to address chronic prison or jail congestion throughout the country.
As chair of the High Court's committee on human rights, Associate Justice Marvin Leonen contemplates the writ as "an extraordinary legal remedy" to, in effect, decongest prisons, jail and detention centers where convicts or detainees already suffer from sub-humane conditions, become fatally vulnerable to Covid virus, their age factor already incompatible with prison ecology.
What actually prompted his proposal is the fact that political prisoners have appealed for their temporary release from detention. The grounds for such an appeal or petition consist of their medical condition as well as their age amid the pandemic. In principle, however, no writ could cater only to a particular class in a universe of prisoners or detainees lest it rears its ugly class bias.
There are antecedent writs one can reference to be the "enabling elements" for the good magistrate's proposed writ of kalayaan, viz: writs of — Amparo, habeas corpus, kalikasan. The Supreme Court senior associate justice appears poised to champion this measure next year which could send cheers to the old, the sick, and the unlettered — behind bars where prison conditions open doors to "horror shows."
As such, it comes across as a welcome New Year's message for all prisoners, detainees, inmates or so-called "persons deprived of liberty" or PDLs across the nation. One reinforcing argument behind this move is the proposition that it is "our duty to respect not only the individual but also collective freedoms."
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It should be right-thinking for a magistrate to leave this legacy like no one ever did — provide the key to the freedom of detainees, prisoners and inmates as a matter of social justice. Indeed, what is the cost of human life in the case of political detainees who sought release from detention (i.e. recognizance) due to their medical condition and old age making them vulnerable to the Covid virus?
It could sound like Patrick Henry's famous words: "Give me liberty, or give me death." After all, couldn't it be considered a war they fight for — the less-than-humane or degrading conditions of prison life if not cruel punishment imposed upon them?
It isn't beyond difficult to prove that "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is present" in so far as our jails, detention centers, or prisons are concerned. The long-drawn problem of congestion or "human warehousing" speaks for itself and the aforementioned requisite preconditions of the writ are screamingly self-evident.
There could be little argument that the novel virus that continues to afflict people, in itself, poses a potential threat to our collective "right to life," not to say of other liberties in the context of declared lockdowns. Despite long-held contributory factors that lead to prison congestion being traceable or in fact, caused by weak and wicked compliance of the five pillars of the criminal justice system to their respective mandates, the convicts or prisoners or detainees most suffer the brunt of inefficiency.
It's high time to establish a mechanism that any executive judge could supervise — operationalizing the "writ of kalayaan." It's quite liberating to note Justice Leonen's intent for the writ to be applied across the board — convicts, detainees and prisoners.
There's no debate that congestion violates or threatens an individual's right to life and as already argued, the writ is one legal remedy, among others. It has become more compelling after the conditions at New Bilibid Prison came to light. No one is yet out of the woods until the writ Is inked — the PDL tag changed to PPL to represent "persons privileged of liberty" — next year onwards.
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