The search for the naked truth does not justify stripping convicts naked like what happened in the Cebu Provincial Jail.

The en masse humiliation and ill-treatment of the convicts in the Cebu penitentiary is influenced by President Duterte’s oft-repeated declaration that criminals are not human, a curse echoed by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre.

Prisoners can be frisked for contrabands but it is against their humanity and privacy to be laid bare.

Prisoners have the right to humane treatment and due respect.

Even caged animals are treated better.

Prison officials and personnel are principally liable for not detecting and confiscating contrabands like drugs and weapons at the prison gates before they are clandestinely brought inside the prison compound.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN