It’s surreal, that story about a secret 1-meter-by-3-meter space behind a shelf at a Tondo, Manila police station, where at least 12 men and women were discovered by the Commission on Human Rights on Thursday.
Except that it is true.
The prisoners said they had been there for a week and were being asked to pay between P40,000 and P200,000 in exchange for their freedom.
They enjoyed no electricity. They were made to use plastic bags in lieu of toilet facilities. Some said they were tortured.
Police officers said the captives were rounded up during an anti-drug raid ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. They were still being processed, the cops said, so their detention was not yet supported by documents.
And given the overcrowding situation in jails, station commander Superintendent Robert Domingo appeared to pride himself in being creative—the extra room was such a waste of space, he said. “Why should I not maximize it?”
He was relieved of his post Friday.
Still, belaboring Domingo’s point, Manila Police District director Joel Coronel offered members of the media free accommodation for one night in their jails so they would know the conditions there. The “executive suite” would be offered to the CHR.
National Capital Region Police Office Chief Director Oscar Albayalde, meanwhile, said they welcomed the CHR’s surprise visit, which was prompted by a tip.
Coronel’s attempt at wit and Albayalde’s efforts to put a spin on the discovery are unnecessary. Everybody knows how bad conditions in police jails, even in the national penitentiary, are.
Everybody can assume, as well, that the CHR visit came as a surprise—why else would a bookcase cover the entrance to a narrow room if the police had intended to raise the issue of jail overcrowding?
A probe, they say, is forthcoming. We agree. We need to find out if there are any more secret chambers holding who-knows-how-many undocumented individuals in the name of the war against illegal drugs. We need police officers to know this is a serious matter they should not make light of, and the people to know that just because it is widespread does not mean it is right or acceptable.
Nobody disputes that the war on drugs must be won. We should insist, however, that it be fought fairly, and decently.