UN Special Rapporteur Khan visits Tacloban City Jail

United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan over the weekend visited members of the “Tacloban 5”  at the Tacloban City Jail where they are being held on suspicion of having ties to the New People’s Army (NPA).

According to the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), Khan arrived at the Tacloban City jail on Saturday, January 27, where she checked on the condition of Frenchie Mae Castro Cumpio, Mariel Alvez Domequil, and Alexander Philip Dizon Abinguna.

Cumpio — allegedly the secretary of the Regional White Area Committee of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee — and four other suspected communist rebels were arrested in February 2020.

They were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives after the military said they found two hand grenades, two .45 caliber pistols, ammunition, a flag of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and P567,000 in cash when they were presented a search warrant.

“In her own hands, Khan described the facility as ‘excellent,’ noting further that it was ‘clean’ and well maintained’ after filing up the jail’s Client Feedback Form,” the PTFoMS said in an emailed statement.

Khan arrived in the Philippines on January 22, and will be in the country until February 2, 2024 to assess the current state of rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the country.

Aside from Tacloban, Khan is scheduled to visit Metro Manila, Baguio City, and Cebu City for dialogues, focusing on the exploration of legal and policy frameworks in connection with the safety of journalists and their sources, media freedom, access to information, and hate speech, among others.

Khan earlier had a one-hour meeting with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to discuss the agency’s role in protecting data privacy, with Commissioner John Henry Naga believing that Khan’s visit was prompted by an incident in 2022 where a journalist in Bicol was refused access to a blotter.

She also met with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to discuss red-tagging concerns, where the department said it has assured her that the government would pursue cases against state or non-state actors involved in red-tagging.

Khan also met with Supreme Court justices, led by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, where they spoke about the Anti-Terrorism Act and judicial reforms. —KG, GMA Integrated News