Vice President Leni Robredo said the treatment of cops who guarded detained activist Reina Mae Nasino during the wake and burial of her daughter was an “overkill.”
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology authorities did not allow the request of Nasino and her family’s request to temporarily remove her handcuffs so she could hug her daughter’s coffin.
“For me, it’s an overkill,” the vice president said in her weekly radio program.
Nearly 100 cops, some in full battle gear, and around 50 officers from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) were sent to the burial of baby River at the Manila North Cemetery last Friday.
Robredo said what happened to Nasino and her child at the funeral was “heartbreaking.”
“We saw the pictures. We saw the footage. We don’t know why the response (of the authorities) was that much,” Robredo said. “Where is our compassion, humanity?”
Robredo also slammed the unfair treatment of a Manila Court to Nasino.
Nasino gave birth to the child while in jail, and the court refused her request to visit her daughter twice until baby River died on October 9.
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Robredo: Police’s treatment of Nasino ‘overkill’
“She was not given the chance to take care of her child while several personalities were granted privileges, even those convicted remain free,” Robredo said.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police spokesman Col. Ysmael Yu earlier defended the police presence at the funeral.
Chief Insp. Xavier Solda, spokesman for the BJMP, said they imposed strict security measures because Nasino is a “high-risk” detainee.
Reina Mae, a 23-year-old activist, was arrested for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
However, the Commission on Human Rights said that the authorities should remember that Nasino is still presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
“Even in detention, persons deprived of liberty should not be subjected to any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and that it remains to be a State obligation to respect their inherent dignity and value as human beings, in line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,” CHR spokesperson lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia said.