The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 7 in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur has denied an urgent motion for furlough filed by political prisoner and peasant organizer Virgie Valdez, who sought temporary leave to attend her mother’s wake and burial.
The court’s decision upheld the opposition from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which cited “exceedingly high, non-mitigable security concerns”.
The Urgent Motion for Furlough was filed by the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) on November 6, 2025, after Ms. Valdez’s mother, Victoria Macheca Enero, passed away on November 3. The motion requested that Ms. Valdez should be allowed to visit her mother’s wake in Marihatag, Surigao del Sur, and attend the interment scheduled for November 13.
In the motion, UPLM argued that Valdez, as a detainee, still enjoys the constitutional presumption of innocence and that her detention is not a form of punishment. The filing also cited Section 65 of the 2015 BJMP Comprehensive Operations Manual, which lists the “Death or serious illness of… mother” as a “very meritorious case” for which leave from jail shall be allowed.
However, the Acting City Jail Warden of Bayugan City Jail submitted a manifestation and opposition to the request. The BJMP stated that Ms. Valdez is “currently classified as a High-Risk PDL” due to her alleged “former status as a high-ranking member of the New People’s Army (NPA)”.
The acting warden claimed that “Intelligence information indicates that the location of the wake is situated within… a known area of significant insurgent presence” and that transporting Valdez would “expose Facility personnel to potential ambushes or hostile recovery attempts”.
The court ultimately adopted the BJMP’s position, prioritizing the alleged security risks over the humanitarian grounds cited in the motion.
The denial highlights a controversial area of law examined in the 2021 Philippine Law Journal. An article titled “The Remedy of Furlough” analyzed the “inconsistency in the application of furloughs” and how it “opens it to an equal protection challenge because it permits discrimination”.
The legal article documented several high-profile cases where furloughs were granted, including:
• Former President Joseph Estrada (detained for plunder) to visit his ailing mother;
• Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla (detained for plunder) “several times to visit his ailing father;”
• Zaldy Ampatuan (a principal suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre) to attend his daughter’s wedding, which a court deemed a “momentous family occasion”.
Valdez, who faces trumped up charges including multiple frustrated murder, double murder, and kidnapping, remains in detention at the Bayugan City Jail.
