Groups Denounce BJMP’s ‘Baseless’ Memorandum

By Juliane Judilla

Several rights groups criticized a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) memorandum directing the “close monitoring of suspected Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) members in jails.”

The directive, dated Jan. 10, 2025, stemmed from a Jan. 9 memo by BJMP Intelligence Director Roland Cael. It was reportedly based on a Facebook post by retired Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, former spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Parlade accused Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-List Representative France Castro of “soliciting funds from drug traffickers through detained suspected CPP members.”

Rep. Castro and the ACT Party-List condemned the BJMP memo and Parlade’s allegations.

“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 of political prisoners, also called for the memo’s retraction.

“Since when did fake news peddled by a notorious red-tagger constitute a source of evidence for the BJMP?” Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said.

Lim argued the memo demonstrates political partisanship and electioneering disguised as a security measure, particularly with elections approaching.

She compared the accusations to similar unfounded claims used to imprison former Senator Leila de Lima for six years.

“Kapatid asks BJMP chief Gen. Ruel Rivera to retract this dangerous memo, which endangers political prisoners and sets a precedent for using baseless accusations for official action. The BJMP must focus on upholding detainees’ rights and safety, not act as a tool for political persecution,” Lim added.

The peace advocacy group Pilgrims for Peace echoed the criticism, calling the memorandum baseless and a violation of human rights.

“There is nothing wrong with individuals and groups visiting political detainees. The BJMP’s restrictive measures violate international and domestic human rights laws,” the group said in a statement on Jan. 14.

“Red-tagging individuals and presenting so-called ‘drug matrices’ are unsupported practices that must stop,” the group added.

The group accused NTF-ELCAC of undermining peace efforts, stating that red-tagging threatens life, liberty, and security, as affirmed by the Supreme Court.

“Time and again, NTF-ELCAC rears its ugly head with baseless accusations, ignoring court decisions and harming the country’s peace efforts,” it concluded.