Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. welcomes the agreement on the new protocols on the handling of persons deprived of liberty who died inside corrections facilities while serving their sentences.
Catapang made the statement following the signing today of the Declaration of Cooperation between the Department of Justice (DOJ), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the University of the Philippines.
in signing the declaration, the parties recognize the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, particularly Rule 69, Rule 70, and Rule 71, which emphasize the importance of prompt, impartial, and effective investigations into custodial deaths and the respect for the rights and dignity of prisoners and their families.
Furthermore, the parties acknowledge the importance of the 2016 Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, known as the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, as a guiding document for the investigation of custodial deaths.
“We at the BuCor welcome this development to give more transparency in determining the cause of death of PDLs under our care and I recognized that PDL shall be accorded with utmost respect for their rights and dignity especially at the time of death, ” Catapang said, adding it broadened the procedures to investigate every death of PDL that occurs within the correction facilities without distinction whether the cause of death is natural or unlawful.
It also included the immediate transport of the human remains of every PDL who dies within BuCor facilities located in the National Capital Region, including the New Bilibid Prison Complex and the Correctional Institution for Women, to the designated facilities of UP Medicine.
Prior to the signing of the declaration, Catapang explained that under the BuCor’s manual, unless claimed by relatives, the body of a PDL who dies in the corrections’ facility may be turned over to an institution of learning or any scientific research center designated by the Secretary, for the purpose of study and investigation, provided that such institution shall provide a decent burial of the remains. Otherwise, the Bureau shall order the burial of the body of the PDL at government expense.
Based on BuCor data for the last five years, there were about 4,636 registered deaths bureawide including the487 recorded deaths from January to June of this year who died of natural causes.
The Declaration of Cooperation was signed by Justice Secretary Crispin “Boying”Remulla, DR. Michael L. Tee, Professor and ChancellorUniversity of the Philippines Manila and Ms. Jo-Ann de Belen, Officer in Charge, Head of Office Programme Office in the Philippines United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.