Sen. Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 reminded officials of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Corrections to uphold the rights of inmates, especially those who are to be moved to provincial colonies from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.Padilla, who experienced life as an inmate for more than three years, noted that some 80 percent of inmates are poor people who did not have legal representation and are unlike the so-called hardcore criminals.“Nais ko ipaalala sa ating kumite, ang mga bilanggo, sila po ay protektado pa rin ng ating Konstitusyon. At hinihingi ko po sa ating lahat na anuman ang plano natin sa ginagawa lang ng iilang siraulong demonyo diyan sa Bilibid, huwag naman maapektuhan ang karamihan. Iilan lang yan na sasagad sa kaluluwa ang kasamaan nila (I wish to remind our committee that inmates are protected under our Constitution. I am asking that whatever we are planning to address the acts of a few bad criminals, it should not apply to the majority of inmates. Only a few of them are hardcore criminals),” Padilla said at the organizational meeting of the Senate committee on justice and human rights.“May karapatang pantao pa rin po ang mga bilanggo at karamihan po diyan mahihirap na tao. Sa tagal ko diyan, 80 percent na nakakulong diyan mahirap na tao na di nabigyan ng pagkakataon na magkaroon ng legal representation (Our inmates have human rights. During my time in prison, 80 percent of inmates are poor people who were not given the chance to have legal representation),” he added.Padilla also stressed the need to uphold the rights of inmates to be visited by their families.One of the first bills that Padilla filed is Senate Bill 235, which aims to address the problems of congestion of jails and to ensure that inmates are visited by their loved ones. As the author of the bill, he stressed there are only a few penitentiary institutions nationwide, and families of inmates have difficulties visiting them due to limitations in travel and accommodation.Under the proposal, the penal farms to be established will have a “standard and uniform design” for the prison, reformation and administrative facilities.The bill mandates the Bureau of Corrections to create an infrastructure plan, coordinate the construction of the regional penitentiaries, and carry out the decentralization and transfer of prisoners to the regional penal farms.