By JUDE BAGGO
www.nordis.net

There are things we ignore when we are free. Things change when one is in prison; everything whether it is a living or non living thing is counted, studied and analyzed. As the detainees would say, it is just to kill time and maintain sanity.

In the region, there are seven political detainees, five in Ifugao and two in Kalinga. All of them are maliciously charged with fabricated crimes such as multiple and frustrated murder to illegal possession of ammunitions.

The Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) in its limited capacity provides jail visitation to political detainees as one of its obligations. It is for this reason that the CHRA is visiting political detainees to render legal and consultation services to the detainees. It is also a way to check their condition and offer relief for the detainees. The detainees are also geographically far from their immediate families and friends and therefore visits from them is limited. To add more difficulty is the low economic status of these families to afford regular visits to their loved ones.

Jail visits

First stop is the Kalinga Provincial Jail. Among the provinces in the region, this jail is the smallest one. Cells are designed facing each other. Reception area for visitors is small and has only one long table.

To be able to visit the jail, one must submit to the jail operational procedures such as writing your name on the logbook and the one you intend to visit and your relationship to the detainee. A valid identification must be presented and body search is conducted to ensure that you are not bringing in anything unauthorized by the jail management.

Observable outside the jail is a waiting shed serving as a small encampment of elements of the military allegedly to beef up security in the jail.

There are two political detainees in this jail. First is Kennedy Bangibang, a National Democratic Front Consultant on national minorities and the Cordillera. Second is Jovencio Baluga from Balbalan, an innocent civilian who narrated he was maliciously charged with multiple and frustrated murder. In his accounts, Baluga went to the Balbalan Municipal Police to “clear” his name instead of being cleared, he was arrested by the police.

During the interview, they said the most difficult thing to maintain inside the jail is sanity. As new detainees, they try to blend in and adjust with other detainnees.

Second stop was at the Alfonso Lista District Jail. This jail is an example of an open air facility. It is located near the municipal hall. It is surrounded by open and vacant lots. The district jail hosts two political detainees. The two are charged with illegal possession of ammunitions and are now waiting for their release.

Most of the inmates are involved in productive activities such as wood carving and blacksmithing. It is just sad that except for the two political detainees, almost all the other inmates are charged with crimes related to violence against women and children.

Third stop was the Ifugao District Jail in Tiger Hill, Kiangan, Ifugao. This jail hosts three political detainees. All the detainees are charged with multiple and frustrated murder.

At the District Jail in Tiger Hill, Kiangan, Ifugao, the three political detainees told me that when a person is in jail every living creature inside the cell is being scrutinized. Ants are being counted and analyzed; they know which ant is the guide; their mode of transferring information among themselves is also explored. House lizards are also studied; they know which lizard is male or female and which of those have on-going relationships.

When visitors bring newspapers, the detainees reserve them and read when they are inside their cell word for word and page by page.

Visiting political detainees is morale boosting to the detainees but also very stressful on the part of visitors. It is stressful to think that these people are innocent yet suffering and languishing in jail. Like us, they are also normal people with families and communities who love and care for them. Like us, they are just working for a better society for all. What they did to be treated like this is their compassion and dedication to change the world.

All of them are charged because of their political beliefs. As our constitution stated that no one should be imprisoned because of their political beliefs. In these cases, this is how our government works, charging innocent individuals by criminalizing political offenses. Clearly, this is a violation.

CHRA is steadfast with the call for their immediate and unconditional release. Their families are waiting for them. The people are waiting for them to continue their work for peace, a just and better world for all. # nordis.net