{"id":252156,"date":"2020-04-15T06:32:20","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T10:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=252156"},"modified":"2020-04-15T06:32:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T10:32:20","slug":"iatf-to-see-pros-cons-of-proposal-to-free-vulnerable-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/04\/15\/iatf-to-see-pros-cons-of-proposal-to-free-vulnerable-inmates\/","title":{"rendered":"IATF to see pros, cons of proposal to free vulnerable inmates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cabinet Secretary and IATF-EID spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the IATF-EID had already tackled the proposed temporary release of vulnerable and non-violent detainees amid the Covid-19 pandemic. (PIA NCR File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will study the possible advantages and disadvantages of releasing vulnerable and non-violent detainees to avoid the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the country\u2019s overcrowded jails.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Cabinet Secretary and IATF-EID spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the IATF-EID had already tackled the proposed temporary release of vulnerable and non-violent detainees amid the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/div>\n
\u201cPinag-usapan namin ng kaunti ng IATF. Syempre, titignan \u2018yung<\/em>\u00a0pros and cons,\u00a0ano yung mga hakbang na pwede nating gawin<\/em>\u00a0(The IATF talked about that. Of course, we will study the pros and cons, as well as the steps that we can do),\u201d Nograles said in a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4 on Wednesday.Non-government organization International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) earlier suggested that detention facilities in Southeast Asia should suspend arrests for non-violent offenses and release vulnerable inmates.<\/p>\n

Nograles said the IATF-EID would let Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra use his discretion in deciding on the proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will defer to the Secretary of the Department of Justice in this regard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Database from the World Prison Brief found that the Philippines has the highest jail occupancy in the world.<\/p>\n

IDPC warned that people deprived of liberty are at higher risk of acquiring Covid-19.<\/p>\n

It said elderly, pregnant women, children, people with underlying health conditions, people awaiting trial and not convicted, and people charged with minor offense must be granted early release.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson on April 7 warned that the Philippines would face \u201ccatastrophic\u201d health problems in the comings, if it does not address the overcrowding in detention facilities nationwide.<\/p>\n

At least 23 elderly, sick, and pregnant prisoners detained in crowded jail facilities asked the Supreme Court on April 8 to order their temporary release, citing fears that their health conditions make them vulnerable to contracting Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Visitation privileges in all prison facilities nationwide have been suspended since March, as the country fights Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Covid-19 has so far infected 5,223 people in the Philippines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2014 The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will study the possible advantages and disadvantages …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":251999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252156"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252158,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252156\/revisions\/252158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}