A SUPPORT group for families and friends of political prisoners, established in 1978 during the martial law period, expressed strong opposition to the presidential bid of the late dictator’s son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., next year.   

In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Kapatid Spokesperson Fides Lim said Mr. Marcos’ bid is “part of their power grab since they went back to the Philippines from exile in 1991.”   

“The family that was responsible for the killings, illegal detention, and gross human rights violations should not be in Malacañang again,” Ms. Lim said.   

Bayan Muna Chairman and human rights lawyer Neri J. Colmenares, in a statement on Wednesday, also opposed Mr. Marcos’s candidacy saying should he win, he will be able to pardon his mother and siblings “of their liabilities to the people, including the recent ruling on the Marcos estate’s tax debt.”   

Mr. Colmenares was referring to the Sept. 28 decision of the anti-graft court ordering the former Traders Commercial Bank to turnover to the Philippine government the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family amounting to almost P1 billion.  

The late Ferdinand E. Marcos placed the country under martial law from Sept. 23, 1972 to Jan. 1981. About 70,000 people were jailed, some 34,000 were tortured, and more than 3,000 people died during the period, based on an Amnesty International report.  

Mr. Marcos filed his certificate of candidacy for president on Wednesday. He unsuccessfully contested the alleged election irregularities that resulted to Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo’s narrow win over him in the 2016 elections. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago  

THE PHILIPPINE Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has blacklisted the employers of 29 Filipino seafarers stranded in Xiamen, China, who were abandoned after their respective vessels ceased operations in May.   

In a news briefing on Wednesday, POEA Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said in Filipino that “these employers know their responsibility to bring home our seafarers but they abandoned them, hence they are blacklisted in POEA and cannot anymore hire seafarers and fishermen.”  

The manning agencies who hired the seafarers were also suspended by the POEA, Mr. Olalia said.  

On Sept. 17, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that 29 seafarers aboard three Chinese-flagged fishing vessels have been stranded along the coast of Xiamen, China.   

The DFA sent them assistance packages containing food, clothing, and hygiene kits while waiting to be repatriated.   

Sixteen of the seafarers were brought back to the Philippines on Sept. 29, and Mr. Olalia assured that the POEA is working with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in China and the Chinese government to bring home the remaining 13 as soon as possible.  

Mr. Olalia said the employers and manning agencies are mandated to give the seafarers’ wages until they are brought back to the Philippines despite the end of their contracts.   

If they fail to comply, the POEA will use the agencies’ deposited escrow fund to pay the seafarers. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago  

SENATORS on Wednesday told the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to immediately address the congestion rate in national penitentiaries across the country at over 300%, with one solon calling the prison conditions as “inhumane.”  

At the budget hearing of the Department of Justice, which includes BuCor, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said the 344% congestion rate at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) alone, the main national penitentiary, is “inhumane” especially during the coronavirus pandemic.  

Mr. Drilon said the preliminary works to move the NBP to another location from Muntinlupa City must begin before the end of the Duterte administration in June 2022.   

Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra told the hearing that “there will be some very clear plans about the intention to transfer the location of the National Bilibid Prison elsewhere” before the current administration steps down.   

Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, said the BuCor and the Justice department must come up with a five to 10-year plan to decongest jails in the country “so that we in Congress can respond accordingly and find ways to fund this every year.”  

BuCor Spokesperson Gabriel P. Chaclag said the Bilibid, built with a capacity for 6,435 prisoners, has a total population of 28,545 as of Aug. 2021.  

Mr. Chaclag added that the average congestion rate in seven prisons and penal farms in the country is 303%. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago