Manila court stands by decision to separate baby from detainee mother Reina Mae

A Manila court is standing by its refusal to allow a detainee to stay with her month-old baby until the child is a year old.

In an order dated July 30, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 20 denied Reina Mae Nasino's motion seeking the reconsideration of the judge's earlier decision.

Nasino, an activist who faces charges for illegal possession of firearms, gave birth on July 1 and was returned to the city jail with her child the following day.

Through her lawyers, she had asked the court to allow her to stay either at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital or the prison nursery of the Manila City Jail with her daughter until the child is 12 months old.

On July 20, the court rejected Nasino's request, citing the city jail's lack of resources to accommodate her and her child.

Nasino then filed a motion for reconsideration, insisting that the child is best left with her for breastfeeding.

Prosecutors countered that the detainee has been feeding her baby milk formula since July 3. In addition, the court cited a memorandum circular of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology as saying that a child born to a detainee may stay with the mother for not more than one month.

The officer-in-charge of the city jail's female dormitory, for her part, said they have no facility for newborn babies. She explained that Nasino and her baby are using a stage that was enclosed to closely monitor sick and pregnant detainees.

"In light of the letter-comment of the OIC Manila City Jail Female Dormitory, the motion for reconsideration of PDL Reina Mae Nasino is denied for being untenable," Judge Marivic Balisi-Umali wrote.

Kapatid, a group of family and friends of political prisoners, said the court's decision is "heartbreaking especially for a first-time mother."

"Forcible separation from her child is the worst thing that can happen to a mother who is also a victim of planted firearms as a political prisoner. She should not be made to pay this price," Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said.

"The right to take care of your child is a most fundamental one, but a court can strip it from a political prisoner so callously,” Lim said.

Nasino is one of the detainees urging the Supreme Court to order their provisional release, fearing their age and pre-existing illnesses, compounded by poor jail conditions, make them vulnerable to COVID-19.—AOL, GMA News