74 prisoners in BuCor facilities considered PUM, 2 others PUI for COVID-19 —Duterte

A total of 74 detainees in Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) facilities are considered persons under monitoring (PUMs) while two others are considered persons under investigation (PUIs) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), President Rodrigo Duterte reported.

Among BuCor personnel, on the other hand, 80 are considered PUMs while one is considered a PUI, the President said in his third weekly report to Congress mandated under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.

There are no reported COVID-19 cases as of April 7 in BuCor facilities, according to the report.

The PUMs and PUIs are already being monitored for symptoms and have been isolated in designated quarantine areas in various BuCor facilities away from the rest of the prison population, the report said.

"The BuCor has already coordinated with partner hospitals should there be a need to transport these PUMs and PUls for medical treatment," it added.

Several individuals, including Senator Leila De Lima and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra himself, have called for the temporary release of some prisoners who are vulnerable to COVID-19 infection due to their age and health conditions and also to decongest jails.

The House Committee on Justice also saw the need to grant temporary liberty to non-violent, sick and elderly detainees from prison to "minimize the impact of a potential COVID-19 outbreak," said the panel's vice chair Ako Bicol party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr.

The President, nevertheless, reported that the BuCor has adopted policies to prevent the transmission and spread of COVID-19 among its personnel and detainees.

These include the suspension of visitation privileges and restrictions on visits from religious organizations, non-government organizations, foreign embassies and consulates, and other humanitarian, educational, business or political missions.

Doctors and lawyers visiting their detained clients are allowed entry into prison facilities but only on a case-to-case basis and subject to stringent screening, the report added.

Disinfection protocols and quarantine schemes have likewise been implemented by the BuCor to minimize physical movement of personnel, the report said.

Temporary tents have also been used for detainees to decongest prison buildings such as the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), it added. A COVID-19 24-hour Monitoring Center has also been established at the NBP Administration building. 

As of Monday, there are a total of 4,932 reported cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines, with 315 deaths and 242 recoveries. —KG, GMA News