The new Chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the executive officers of Balay Rehabilitation Center have affirmed the commitment of their respective organizations to promote a torture-free jail system and uphold humane safekeeping of detainees in the country in a meeting at the BJMP National Headquarters on January 20, 2016.

Balay Executive Director Josephine Lascano said that they will continue to engage with the BJMP in disseminating information about the anti-torture law and coordinate with the Directorate for Inmates Welfare and Development (DIWD) office in organizing seminars for jail officers on torture prevention, documentation, and reporting.J/C Supt Deogracias C. Tapayan, which assumed his post as BJMP Chief in 2016,  for his part, said he is in full support of the memorandum of agreement signed between Balay and his predecessor, J/C Supt Diony Mamaril as it is aligned with their mission of humane safekeeping and inmates development.Also at the meeting was the new DIWD Director J/S Supt Felixberto Saim Jagorin Jr.  who have committed to promote the BJMP Guidelines on Torture Prevention, Documentation, and Reporting – one of the products of the BJMP-Balay partnership.

A coalition of  human rights organizations has called on jail authorities and the Commission on Human Rights to  uphold the freedom from torture law following the reported  use of excessive force by  jail officers against around thirty protesting  inmates in Makati City Jail on March 9.

According to Josephine Lascano, representing the Secretariat of the United against  Torture Coalition (UATC),  the image of the jail officers hitting with wooden club the already subdued inmates may be a violation of Republic Act 9745 which prohibits the intentional infliction of pain or suffering to persons under custody to exact punishment or to force an admission. She added that the move of the  Bureau of Jail Management and Penology as well as the CHR to investigate the incident should determine whether the erring jail guards are criminally accountable, in addition to possible administrative sanctions under  the existing rules and regulation.

The Caloocan Civil Society Coalition (CSC) was launched last Saturday at the Bagong Silang Auditorium Phase 1.

Balay, along with other NGOs working in Bagong Silang coalesce and unite to strengthen its campaign to promote and protect the rights of children.

Balay has been working in Bagong Silang to prevent torture and urban violence. Through Balay Alternative Learning System (Balay - ALS), children are given an opportunity to go back to school and continue their education. Thus, prevent them from getting into aggression and violence perpetrated by authorities.

The unity gave birth to the Civil Society Coalition, a group of non-government organizations binding to accompany children and their families to dream for a better life and a government that is more responsive to their needs.

Educators in poor urban neighborhoods in Caloocan City have agreed to improve the protective factors of their learners in order to prevent their exposure to violence, torture, and ill-treatment and promote their development through the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program. They made this commitment during the conversation among instructional managers and psychosocial practitioners of Balay Rehabilitation Center in Pranjetto Resort and Conference Center in Tanay, Rizal on February 14-16, 2016.

The participants in the two-day forum noted that poverty, family neglect and domestic violence, as well as the poor delivery of government social services, compel many young people to quit formal schooling and spend time in the street. They observed that the engagement of young people in unproductive and risky activities - such as drinking alcohol, taking prohibited drugs, theft, and harmful gang encounters - often put the young people in conflict with authorities that can result in their arrest, ill-treatment or torture.