MANILA, Philippines — The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) on Wednesday filed a demand letter to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW), calling for an “immediate end” to reported coercive practices against persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), regarding the investigation into alleged irregularities involving their Trust Fund accounts.
It also demanded the immediate restoration of the inmates’ access to their own money, along with the return of passbooks being retained, “meaningful” access to counsel during the investigation, the disclosure of the rules governing the CIW Trust Fund and cashless system, and the preservation of all relevant records.
“The demand was made on behalf of women PDLs who reported being pressured or compelled to sign affidavits, demand letters, audit forms, and other documents in connection with the inquiry into funds allegedly lost, misused, or otherwise subjected to irregularities,” the NUPL said in a statement.
According to the lawyers’ union, common practices included the withholding of passbooks unless the PDLs sign audit forms; pressure to sign documents that will assign responsibility to a CIW Trust Fund Officer; restrictions on withdrawals, deposits, and transfers; and limitations affecting communications with family members and legal counsel.
“A legitimate investigation must follow the evidence, not pressure persons in custody into affirming a predetermined outcome… Women in custody are in an inherently vulnerable position. Their confinement must never be exploited to extract statements, secure signatures, or compel them to adopt conclusions that investigators have already chosen,” said lawyer Katherine Panguban, who is the head of the NUPL Women and Children Committee.
“The Trust Fund and cashless system are institutional arrangements under the supervision and control of CIW and the Bureau of Corrections. Any serious investigation must therefore examine not only individual conduct, but also the systems that were supposed to safeguard these funds—the controls, audits, record-keeping mechanisms, and accountability structures that were in place,” she added.
Panguban said that the alleged disappearance or misuse of PDL funds “cannot be reduced to the possible wrongdoing of a single corrections officer” and that the inmates “must not be made to bear the consequences of any failure in the administration of the Trust Fund system, particularly through restrictions on access to money belonging to them.”
“Whatever the investigation ultimately finds, the women deprived of liberty cannot be made to bear the consequences of failures they did not cause… Their passbooks and personal funds cannot be used as leverage for their cooperation. Refusing to sign a document is not a lawful basis to withhold a person’s money, restrict her rights, or subject her to retaliation,” PILC associate Mark Vincent Lim said.
“The investigation must follow the evidence—not the other way around… Accountability requires both a fair inquiry into what happened to the women’s money and a full accounting of the institution’s responsibility for protecting it,” he added.
According to the NUPL and the PILC, the letter requested a complete response from the Mandaluyong City-based prison, along with the requested documents and explanations, within five business days from receipt.
“NUPL and PILC demanded that CIW immediately cease any pressure, coercion, intimidation, or misleading representation used to obtain investigative documents; return retained passbooks; restore access to undisputed Trust Fund balances; allow voluntary participation in the investigation with meaningful access to counsel; explain the basis for restrictions imposed on withdrawals, deposits, and transfers; identify the institutional safeguards and responsible officers governing the system; and ensure that no PDL is subjected to reprisal for refusing to sign documents, seeking legal assistance, or demanding an accounting of her funds,” the groups said.