From the Manila Bulletin (Mar 31, 2020) Farmers urge gov’t to release ‘political prisoners’ (By Chito Chavez)
Farmer’s group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) on Tuesday urged the President “to immediately release the more than 600 political prisoners and drop all trumped-up charges against them’’.
UMA chairperson Antonio Flores said, “We urge the government to free political prisoners right away as the country faces the Covid-19 pandemic, where prison cells can become hotspots for its outbreak.”
Human rights group Karapatan also reported that the congestion rate in the country’s jails is at 450 percent.
“Political prisoners, who are mostly peasant and union leaders, have been falsely detained for asserting the people’s right to land, just wages, and job security,” UMA said.
“Even National Democratic Front (NDF) peace consultants, who are mostly of old age, were not spared from arrest even if they are supposedly protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG),’’ the group added.
UMA emphasized that heavily congested prison cells can put at great risk political prisoners who now suffer the added injustice of dying from the pandemic just because they chose to stand up for peasants and workers’ rights.
Among the political prisoners languishing jail is Felicidad Caparal, an UMA organizer, who was abducted on January 27, 2009, and was identified in media as a “top-ranking NPA official” arrested for fabricated murder charges.
Flores said Caparal was then sentenced to life imprisonment and is currently detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.
“NDF peace consultants, Rey Casambre, Rommel Salinas, Renante Gamara, Vic Ladlad, Cleofe Lagtapon, Francisco Fernandez, Ferdinand Castillo, Leopoldo Caloza, Eduardo Sarmiento, Adelberto Silva and Esterlita Suaybaguio, have all been imprisoned for made-up common crimes based on planted evidences and concocted testimonies,’’ he said.
While the NDF remains open to the resumption of peace talks, UMA said the continued detention of peace consultants and persecution of political actions are a huge hurdle for the peace negotiations to resume.
Flores added “The Duterte administration can avoid the loss of thousands of lives in decongesting the country’s detention facilities by following the peoples’ demand, which has also pushed the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights to call on states to release political prisoners.”
“We reiterate this call, especially for the elderly, sick, pregnant women, nursing mothers, those who are due for parole or pardon, at least one spouse each of political prisoner couples and accidental victims of political arrests,” UMA concluded.
Farmer’s group Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) on Tuesday urged the President “to immediately release the more than 600 political prisoners and drop all trumped-up charges against them’’.
UMA chairperson Antonio Flores said, “We urge the government to free political prisoners right away as the country faces the Covid-19 pandemic, where prison cells can become hotspots for its outbreak.”
Human rights group Karapatan also reported that the congestion rate in the country’s jails is at 450 percent.
“Political prisoners, who are mostly peasant and union leaders, have been falsely detained for asserting the people’s right to land, just wages, and job security,” UMA said.
“Even National Democratic Front (NDF) peace consultants, who are mostly of old age, were not spared from arrest even if they are supposedly protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG),’’ the group added.
UMA emphasized that heavily congested prison cells can put at great risk political prisoners who now suffer the added injustice of dying from the pandemic just because they chose to stand up for peasants and workers’ rights.
Among the political prisoners languishing jail is Felicidad Caparal, an UMA organizer, who was abducted on January 27, 2009, and was identified in media as a “top-ranking NPA official” arrested for fabricated murder charges.
Flores said Caparal was then sentenced to life imprisonment and is currently detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.
“NDF peace consultants, Rey Casambre, Rommel Salinas, Renante Gamara, Vic Ladlad, Cleofe Lagtapon, Francisco Fernandez, Ferdinand Castillo, Leopoldo Caloza, Eduardo Sarmiento, Adelberto Silva and Esterlita Suaybaguio, have all been imprisoned for made-up common crimes based on planted evidences and concocted testimonies,’’ he said.
While the NDF remains open to the resumption of peace talks, UMA said the continued detention of peace consultants and persecution of political actions are a huge hurdle for the peace negotiations to resume.
Flores added “The Duterte administration can avoid the loss of thousands of lives in decongesting the country’s detention facilities by following the peoples’ demand, which has also pushed the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights to call on states to release political prisoners.”
“We reiterate this call, especially for the elderly, sick, pregnant women, nursing mothers, those who are due for parole or pardon, at least one spouse each of political prisoner couples and accidental victims of political arrests,” UMA concluded.
Nothing like commies attempting to exploit the Coronavirus crisis as a justification for freeing their jailed comrades.
ReplyDeleteUnyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA Pilipinas) is a suspected Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front organization and characterizes itself as being the national progressive center of unions, federations, associations and organizations of agricultural workers in the Philippines.
UMA works closely with other CPP front groups in the Philippines such as the CPP-associated Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement), and other organizations affiliated with the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN, New Patriotic Alliance).
UMA is also a member of other communist international fronts such as the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), Coalition of Agricultural Workers International (CAWI) and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) headed by the founder of the CPP Jose Maria Sison.