By By Juliane Judilla
Several rights groups have denounced a memorandum order released by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which directs the “close monitoring of suspected Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) members in jails.”
The directive, dated January 10, 2025, stemmed from a January 9, 2025, memo issued by BJMP Intelligence Director Roland Cael. This memo was based solely on a Facebook post by retired Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, the former spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). In his post, Parlade accused Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-List Representative France Castro of allegedly “soliciting funds from drug traffickers for her group through detained suspected CPP members.”
Rep. France Castro and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-List condemned both the memo and Parlade’s statement.
“This is a dangerous and malicious act of red-tagging by the BJMP. They are using an unverified social media post from a discredited source to justify surveillance and monitoring of a sitting member of Congress and political prisoners,” Castro said.
Kapatid, a support group for families and friends of political prisoners, also called on the BJMP to retract the order.
“Since when did fake news peddled by a notorious red-tagger constitute a source of evidence that the BJMP should order wardens to act on it?” Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said.
Lim further argued that the memo represents political partisanship and illegal electioneering, disguised as a security measure, particularly with election season approaching. She cited similar baseless accusations that linked former Senator Leila de Lima to drug lords, which were used to justify her wrongful imprisonment for six years.
“And now, the BJMP is complicit in a similar pattern of targeting government critics with no evidence,” Lim added.
“Kapatid asks BJMP chief Gen. Ruel Rivera to retract this dangerous memo, which not only puts the lives and security of political prisoners at greater risk but also sets a dangerous precedent for using baseless, politically motivated accusations as grounds for official action. The BJMP must focus on its core mandate of upholding the rights and safety of all detainees, not serve as a tool for political persecution,” she added.
The peace advocacy group Pilgrims for Peace also criticized the BJMP, stating that it “has no basis to implement this memorandum,” and that such a restrictive measure violates human rights laws.
“There is nothing wrong with individuals and groups visiting political detainees. Furthermore, the BJMP’s decision to impose such restrictive measures can be considered a violation of international and domestic human rights laws,” the group said in a press statement dated January 14.
“Red-tagging individuals and presenting so-called ‘drug matrices’ are practices bereft of credible evidence that need to stop,” it added.
“Time and again, the NTF-ELCAC continues to rear its ugly head, running fast and loose with accusations, acting as the ultimate peace spoiler in the country. The Supreme Court has already ruled that red-tagging is a threat to life, liberty, and security, yet people like Parlade remain preoccupied with spewing lies rather than adhering to court decisions,” the group concluded./PT
