BY JEFFREY DAMICOG, CZARINA ONG-KI
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Friday that the judicial process for the case of political prisoner Reina Mae Nasino has to move on following the death of her three-month-old baby girl River.
“We sympathize with the accused for her personal loss, but her case is now before the court and the judicial process has to move on,” he said.
The secretary cited that the prosecutor handling her cases “did not oppose Nasino’s request for furlough.”
Presiding Judge Paulino Gallegos of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47 recently granted the motion of Nasino for furlough so she can be at the wake and burial of her daughter this week.
Her counsels at the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) criticized the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) for asking the court to reduce her furlough time by claiming that it lacked personnel.
The NUPL also accused the BJMP of double standards by giving special treatment to privileged detainees and showing cruelty to Nasino when she visited the wake of her daughter at the La Funeraria Rey in Pandacan, Manila last Wednesday.
“I can’t blame them for their opinion,” Guevarra said.
“Our justice system, like all systems created by human beings, is not a perfect system,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) expressed deep concern over how government authorities handled the case of Nasino, who is currently undergoing trial for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
CHR spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that Nasino remains an accused, so the presumption of innocence is still on her side.
The CHR hoped that the government had put the best interest of the child in mind, and even cited the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders or the Bangkok Rules.
It explained that “decisions to allow children to stay with their mothers in prison shall be based on the best interest of the children.”
Sadly, in the case of Nasino, her three-month old baby was kept away from her despite the child’s deteriorating health. (Jeffrey Damicog, Czarina Ong-Ki)
