Bishop Joel “Bong” Baylon
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Bishop Joel Baylon, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said PDLs should be included because they are vulnerable to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) due to the situation in the country’s jails.
“It goes without saying that even PDLs deserve to receive assistance just like any other ordinary citizen, especially because their situation (in many congested jails) makes them ever vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus,” he said in an interview Wednesday, March 3.
Last year, Baylon joined calls for the immediate release of vulnerable inmates in view of the growing number of PDLs testing positive of the COVID-19.