ASEAN mulls prisoner swap so felons can serve sentence in home countries
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer (Prison Reform) Rafael Souza speaks at the ASEAN Regional Cooperation Conference. (Photo by TETCH TORRES-TUPAS)
PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan — Prison service leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss a potential ASEAN-wide prisoner swap to allow convicted individuals overseas to serve sentences in their home countries.
This is seen as a way to develop camaraderie among prison authorities and share information on handling penal and corrections systems.
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said such an agreement can have significant benefits, including humanitarian considerations and easing the burden on foreign prison systems.
“Kung may nakulong na Pilipino sa Singapore, dito na ise-serve and then, in the same manner, kung may Singaporean na nakulong dito,” Catapang told reporters.
[If a Filipino is imprisoned in Singapore, they can be transferred back to the Philippines to serve their sentence, and vice versa for nationals of other ASEAN countries.]
The Philippines is currently hosting the 2nd ASEAN Regional Corrections Conference (ARCC).
According to Catapang, the potential agreement will reflect the potential agreements with other countries.
“Among Asians, we are very close to each other. We are like brothers and sisters, and we want to develop camaraderie in a correctional way of handling our penal and correctional system,” Catapang said.
He added: “We are sharing ideas on how to develop each other’s capabilities and management of prison. In addition to that, we want to also learn about the prison exchange process.”
Last year, the Indonesian government agreed to transfer Mary Jane Veloso back to the Philippines to continue serving her sentence.
READ: Mary Jane Veloso returns home after 14 years
Veloso has been in detention since 2010 after Indonesian authorities arrested her at the Yogyakarta airport for bringing in more than two kilograms of heroin.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo stopped Veloso’s execution on April 29, 2015.
This came after then-President Benigno Aquino III appealed her case and explained that her testimony was vital in the case she had filed against her recruiters.
Catapang admitted that the transfer of Veloso to the Philippines is something new to the country.
“So, we do not know how to go about paano yung nakulong ka doon, and then nilipat ka dito,” he said.
(So we do not know how to go about the question on what happens if you are imprisoned there and then, you are transferred here.)
He added that there were even calls for her release since technically, she has not committed any offense in the Philippines and has served prison-time in Indonesia.
“With Indonesia around, we can exchange notes and maybe help us to further assess the prison,” Catapang said.
The four-day conference will focus on strengthening regional cooperation in corrections, transforming prison systems to address evolving global challenges, and developing joint solutions.
