MANILA, Philippines — Detainees deemed vulnerable and at-risk to the novel coronavirus sought an order for their temporary release from the Supreme Court, citing that the Philippines will record a staggering number of fatalities in our overcrowded prisons.

A group of 23 prisoners filed a petition by way of a special civil action for certiorari on Wednesday and asked the tribunal to direct their temporary release during “the duration of the state of public health emergency, national calamity, lockdown and community quarantine due to the threats of the COVID-19.”

The SC may also direct the release of the prisoners through bail, they said.

The group, represented by rights lawyers, also urged the SC to order the creation of a Prisoner Release Committee to study and implement the release of other prisoners who are similarly situated as them.

“Petitioners are praying for a fair chance at surviving the devastating impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in spaces that are not blighted with the overcrowding and lack of access to hygiene measures and medical care,” their plea read.

The group of petitioners are composed of political prisoners and detainees who are elderly sick or pregnant, and are committed to crowded facilities where social distancing is “practically impossible.”

Earlier this week, the Quezon City Jail placed 15 inmates under isolation after they came in contact with an inmate who died of suspected COVID-19 on March 25.

Experts suggest social distancing, which means standing at least six feet away from each other, to prevent the spread of the new pathogen that is transmitted easily through droplets.

But in the Philippines’ overcrowded prisons—the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology previously admitted to housing detainees more than five time its capacity—social distancing is an unreachable luxury.

Noting that the state of our detention facilities is not a matter that can be resolved immediately, the petitioners said: “The fatalities among the vulnerable sectors in these prisons will be staggering once COVID-19 sets in.”

The new coronavirus has infected 3,764 in the Philippines. Death toll is at 177 while 84 have so far recovered.

Bail on humanitarian grounds

The petitioners raised that allowing the temporary release of prisoners amid the pandemic is a discussion in governments across the world, such as in India, Iran, Turkey and Australia have begun temporarily releasing prisoners amid the global outbreak.

The SC has, too, ordered the release through bail on humanitarian grounds in several cases such as when it allowed former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to walk free amid a plunder trial.

Citing Enrile vs Sandiganbayan, the petitioners said that the SC explained: “[T]he Philippine authorities are under obligation to make available to every person under detention such remedies, which safeguard their fundamental right to liberty.”

The SC in Enrile and an earlier case, Dela Rama vs. People’s Court, “deemed it proper to grant bail as the continued incarceration of the petitioners in both cases would be injurious to their health or endanger their lives,” the petitioners noted.

They also stressed that the petitioners are not flight risks—a reason cited by the SC in Enrile’s release—as they are old, frail, sickly and have mo capacity to flee.

They added: “While they are charged with common crimes, the arrest, detention and charges against petitioners are due to their political beliefs. They are not hardened criminals.”

The petitioners sought for the SC’s “compassion and protection of their right to life and health amid the COVID-19 pandemic” and asked that they may be released on humanitarian reasons.

“Needless to say, the continued incarceration of petitioners who are sick and elderly would be a virtual death sentence,” they added.