Various groups have criticized the memorandum issued by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which directs the “close monitoring” of suspected communist political prisoners.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) and the prisoners’ rights organization Kapatid, in separate statements, called on the BJMP to revoke the order, labeling the allegations of communist insurgency among some persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) as “unverified.”

“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,” Kapatid stated.

The NUPL also criticized the BJMP’s action, describing it as a form of McCarthyism targeting individuals “based solely on suspicion, ideological profiling, and unverified allegations.”

The group argued that the memo violates both domestic and international human rights laws. “They undermine the presumption of innocence enshrined in the Constitution (Article III, Section 14) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by imposing punitive measures without trial. They also violate the right to privacy and human dignity, as affirmed in the ICCPR (Article 17), by subjecting detainees to invasive surveillance and severely restricting essential correspondence and visitor interactions,” NUPL stated.

It further noted that blocking detainees’ access to legal counsel, a right guaranteed under the Constitution (Article III, Section 12), compromises the right to a fair trial. The organization also highlighted the psychological harm caused by isolation and heightened surveillance, calling it cruel and degrading treatment.

The BJMP memorandum, shared by the NUPL on January 10, reportedly originated from a now-deleted Facebook post by retired General Antonio Parlade. In the post, Parlade accused Rep. France Castro (ACT-Teachers) of visiting jail facilities to solicit funds from drug traffickers for her party-list group, allegedly with the assistance of PDLs linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“It is both ludicrous and deeply concerning that a government agency tasked with overseeing jail management would consider an unverified Facebook post from an unreformed red-tagger as a sufficient basis for policy. The post, made by a retired military general and former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson, accuses Rep. France Castro of the ACT Party-List of ‘frequenting jail facilities to solicit funds from drug traffickers for the said party-list group through the efforts of detained suspected members of the CPP,’” the NUPL said.

Rep. France Castro denounced the BJMP’s memorandum as a “dangerous and malicious act of red-tagging.”

“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 in a statement.

 

“This memorandum demonstrates how red-tagging endangers lives and violates human rights. The BJMP must be held accountable for this irresponsible action that puts my safety and that of political prisoners at risk,” she added.