Philippines' push for Asean-wide prisoner transfer treaty: will it spur reforms?
Corrections officials have thrown their support behind
the Philippines ' push for an Asean-wide prisoner transfer agreement, touting it as a step towards stronger regional cooperation on inmate rights.
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Such an agreement could help in the rehabilitation process, according to analysts, who nevertheless described it as a 'marginal step' that would do little to ease chronic overcrowding and other entrenched issues plaguing the region's prisons.
The drafting of a transfer of sentenced persons (TSP) agreement was discussed at the Asean Regional Correctional Conference held in Palawan from February 14 to 17.
The conference brought together corrections officials from Association of Southeast Asian Nations' member states Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia, as well as international organisations and jail-management experts.
The director general of Manila's Bureau of Corrections, Gregorio Pio Catapang Jnr, stressed that the Philippines would pursue the proposal 'because if we can implement it within Asean, we can achieve it globally.'
Mary Jane Veloso (centre) a Filipino woman who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia on drug-smuggling charges, waves as she is reunited with her family at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong, the Philippines in December 2024. Photo: AP
The Philippines' proposition comes after
Mary Jane Veloso , a Filipino inmate who spent nearly 15 years on death row in Indonesia on drug-smuggling charges, was repatriated to the Philippines in December.
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