“The leader of a new Philippines would have acknowledged the political prisoners in the SONA”
This past month, I have taken the time to write about this year’s SONA, the idea of a ‘new Philippines,’ and the things we need to do if we want good and impactful change in the Philippines.
One of the important issues I discussed was the release of all political prisoners. With red-tagging and trumped-up charges, the opposition are arrested despite fighting for freedom and justice.
When people become political prisoners, they are further oppressed.
Some are denied bail despite acquittal, some are denied their right to care for their newly-born baby, some suffer from worsening ailments and / or old age.
Most detainees, not just political prisoners, suffer from the terrible conditions of the Philippine prison system.
They are overcrowded, and lack healthy meals as well as properly sanitized bathrooms.
There are many political prisoners who have become sick, even sicker, or have passed away because of incarceration.
In fact, according to the CHR, these conditions are “short of meeting the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners as well as the [Bureau of Jail and Management Penology’s] Manual on Habitat, Water, Sanitation and Kitchen in Jails.”
Additionally, there have been reports of torture and abuse of detainees despite the Anti-Torture Law.
These conditions as well as the clear repression done through this practice of jailing activists has led Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) to launch their campaign “Breaking chains, Reclaiming freedom from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr.”
However, despite the hopes the president will at least acknowledge the existence of political prisoners or the problems within the prisons, we got nothing from SONA 2023. Despite the 778 political prisoners as of June 2023, the president chose to ignore them.
In anticipation of this continued ignorance and to protest both their conditions and the current state of the Philippines, political prisoners from the Negros island did a 24-hour fast last July 24, 2023.
Of all the political prisoners in the country now, 139 or 20 percent of the total are in Negros island.
More than 100 political prisoners in Negros island participated.
Political prisoners from Cebu City and at the Metro Manila District Jail Annex 4, Camp Bagong Diwa also did a protest fast in solidarity with the political prisoners from Negros island.
They called Marcos Jr. to stop the extrajudicial killings of activists by state forces in its counter-insurgency drive in Negros In a statement, the Negros island political prisoners said that the EJKs, especially in the rural areas of Negros, increased during the first year of the Marcos Jr.
Around 30 percent of 60 victims of massacres since July 2022 were Negrense farmers according to Karapatan data.
They also demanded for the release of nine sick and elderly political prisons– namely 66-year old Epifanio Romano, 65-year old Diosdado Caballero, 63-year olds Sidwin Gordoncillo and Azucena Garubat, 61-year old Corazon Javier, and 60-year olds Nilda Bertolano, Andres Pasyonela and Abraham Villanueva, as well as Lindy Perocho.
This shows the political prisoners’ dedication to their fight for freedom and justice. Despite mistreatment, they still find a way to stand in solidarity with the oppressed and marginalized.
Unfortunately, the mistreatment of political prisoners, together with common criminals, has been common even before Marcos Jr.’s administration. In the early days of COVID-19, there was a call for the release of all political prisoners because of the virus’ outbreaks in congested prisons. Given that the Philippine jails are overcrowded, according to ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy, “609 political prisoners are already facing their death sentence.”
During the rare times that political prisoners are allowed to temporarily leave detention for health concerns, they are still dehumanized.
Frank Fernandez who suffered bouts of unconsciousness was brought to the hospital but was constantly handcuffed to his bed. Bernabe Ocasla also suffered multiple heart attacks and died handcuffed to the hospital bed.
His daughter asked that they be removed but the guards refused.
In 2019, Leila De Lima also wrote a statement to condemn the visitation ban for political prisoners’ families during the Christmas season.
Apparently, loved ones of political prisoners at the time were barred from visiting.
One of them was the wife of Vic Ladlad, Fides Lim who protested because she was not allowed to bring her husband food and medicines.
All of these compounding dehumanizing circumstances experienced by the political prisoners and their loved ones prove that we are extremely far from a ‘new Philippines.’
The new Philippines will not have political prisoners at all because people who fight for freedom and justice will be honored instead of jailed. The leader of a new Philippines would have acknowledged the political prisoners in the SONA.