THE PHILIPPINES and the United Kingdom (UK) signed a treaty on Thursday for the crafting of a framework to improve prison rehabilitation in Philippine jails, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said.
In a statement, the DoJ said that under the agreement, Filipinos convicted and incarcerated in the UK will be allowed to serve the remainder of their prison sentences in the Philippines to facilitate their eventual reintegration into society.
The bilateral agreement is a product of two days of negotiations between representatives of the DoJ and the UK Ministry of Justice last July.
UK Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils and Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla led the signing of the treaty.
“This act further solidifies the strengthening bilateral relations between the Philippines and the united Kingdom,” the DoJ said in a statement.
Many Philippine jails fail to meet the UN’s minimum standards given inadequate food, poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions, according to Human Rights Watch.
In a separate development, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said that over 31,000 inmates will be voting in Monday’s village and youth council elections.
BJMP spokesman Jayrex J. Bustinera, speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing on state-run television, said 29,000 of them will be voting in jails while 1,900 are to be escorted to their registered barangays.
Eligible voters include those awaiting trial and serving sentences less than a year, he added. The BJMP has collaborated with the Supreme Court’s Office of the Court Administrator, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure a smooth process in affording persons deprived of liberty or PDLs their right to suffrage. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
