The Philippines' "Sunshine Prison" (Bicutan Detention Center) is once again embroiled in a public opinion storm. A Malaysian-Chinese man has been detained since February 26, 2024, and has completely lost contact since then. His family has publicly sought help on social media, questioning whether he might have been "dealt with secretly," with his life or death uncertain.
According to the family, the man initially kept in touch with his family through a "private cell phone in prison" after being detained. However, since May, his contact suddenly stopped, with his phone being offline for a long time and messages unanswered. Since then, there has been no news. What is more distressing is that he suffers from chronic diseases and severe depression, making it difficult for him to endure long-term detention.
Nominally, "Sunshine Prison" is an official detention center under the Philippine Immigration Bureau, specifically handling illegal residents and foreign nationals involved in cases; but within the Chinese community, it has long been known as a "black hole for the living": easy to enter, hard to leave, and without financial intervention, deportation is indefinitely delayed.
What is more unsettling is that this case is not an isolated incident:
Zhejiang Li Mou: Arrested at the end of 2023 due to "identity issues," his family paid 200,000 yuan for "deportation fees" through an intermediary, only to completely lose contact, with the immigration bureau responding with "no such person found."
Fujian Zhao Mou: Previously posted a video accusing "abuse and being forced to sign," and after the video was exposed, his account was immediately blocked, followed by loss of contact.
Guangzhou Huang Mou: Detained in Sunshine Prison due to involvement in online gambling, his family sought help from the Philippine consulate in vain, suspected of being "technically transferred" to a third country's intelligence agency.
Internal messages indicate that Sunshine Prison often engages in "ransom-style negotiations"—no payment, no deportation, and possibly being transferred to other units for repeated "round detentions." The prison authorities have long been linked with intermediaries and illegal law enforcement chains, exploiting family anxiety for high-priced "negotiations."
Even more outrageous are rumors of secret "compartmentalization" within the prison, specifically detaining foreign nationals who are "difficult to handle" or "uncooperative." Once transferred, they completely lose contact with the outside world, with no exit records or deportation procedures, as if "disappeared."
Facing the continuously exposed scandals, human rights organizations have called on the Philippine government to immediately launch an independent investigation to ensure the basic human rights, communication freedom, and legal relief mechanisms of all detained foreign nationals.
Currently, the plight of this missing Chinese man has become a new focus. On social media, more and more families are voicing a common plea:
"We are not afraid of being fined, we just want to see the living."
