This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 12, April 29-May 5, 2007
The
nightmare experience exactly a year ago (April 28, 2006) is still vivid for
detainees Axel Pinpin, Riel Custodio, Aristedes Sarmiento, Enrico Ybañez,and
Michael Masayes, collectively known as the “Tagaytay 5.” CALAMBA CITY, LAGUNA (52
kms. south of Manila) – The nightmare experience exactly a year ago (April 28,
2006) is still vivid for detainees Axel Pinpin, Riel Custodio, Aristedes
Sarmiento, Enrico Ybañez,and Michael Masayes, collectively known as the
“Tagaytay 5.” How they wished they were
actors for an action movie that would all end with the director’s cut when armed
men in plain clothes blocked them abruptly at gunpoint while riding a rented
vehicle along a narrow road in Barangay Sungay in Tagaytay City (some 56 kms.
south of Manila), forced to board a van and held down on the floor blindfolded
and handcuffed at the back. As per Sarmiento’s account,
their captors--who later turned out to be officers and soldiers of the
Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Navy – hid them for seven
harrowing days “na parang bola na pinagpasa-pasahan sa apat na kampo militar
at paulit-ulit na itinangging hawak nila kami” (like a ball that was passed
on through four military camps, with them repeatedly denying they were holding
us). “Piniringan kami habang
ilegal at duwag na ininteroga; manaka-nakang pinatikim ng romansa-militar;
binantaang isa-salvage at kukuryentihin; inalok na ‘bumaligtad’ o ‘ilaglag ang
mga kasama niyo, may pera pa kayo!’ hanggang sa sinampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso
ng rebelyon at murder matapos ang mahigit 100 oras na dukutin” (We were
blindfolded while illegally and cowardly being subjected to interrogation;
tortured from time to time; threatened with summary execution or electrocution;
offered with the option of ‘capitulation’ or ‘you’ll obtain money if you squeal
against your comrades!’ until we were charged with fabricated rebellion and
murder cases after over 100 hours since our abduction), Sarmiento recalled.
”Hanggang 36 oras lamang maaaring legal na idetine ang sinumang suspek nang
walang habla sa korte. Ipinagkait sa amin ang karapatang magkaroon ng abogado sa
loob ng pitong araw na iyon” (A suspect may only be legally detained for 36
hours without charges. But we were denied of our right to a legal counsel for
seven days.) Families and friends
attested that Custodio, Pinpin and Sarmiento are peasant organizers and
agriculturists allied with the Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka
or Association of Cavite Farmers) working on rural development projects, while
Ybañez and Masayes are simply cock-fighting enthusiasts who live in Tagaytay
City. In a press briefing on
Labor Day 2006, then PNP chief Gen. Arturo Lomibao claimed having thwarted
another “destabilization plot” against the government, proof of which was the
“arrest” of the five who they accused as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels. But
Commissioner Wilhelm Soriano of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said they
were actually abducted, not arrested. Nightmares end, they
thought. But being locked-up daily in a cramp, 5 x 6-meter cell here (“the tomb
of the living,” they say) at the Base Police Detention Center inside Camp
Vicente Lim in Canlubang, everything is for real as they actually feel its brunt
on their weakening bodies and empty stomachs. A hunger striker’s body
uses energy from glucose during the first three days, after which the liver
would start processing body fat. The body then gets into a starvation mode three
weeks later where it “mines” the muscles and vital organs for energy. Body
resistance is estimated to last within 60 days. Being aware of the perils,
Custodio, Pinpin and Sarmiento led the group’s prison protest that started with
a 40-day fast from Feb. 20 to March 31, subsisting only on biscuits and liquids.
During the onset of Holy Week (April 1), they began to shun biscuits and
declared a full-scale hunger strike. Meanwhile, Masayes and Ybañez maintained
their regular meals due to health considerations. They recalled the prison
struggles of Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. and other political prisoners
during the Marcos martial law regime, whose conditions they said were similar to
theirs. They also cited as example the raging hunger strikes of Muslim detainees
under U.S. military prisons in Guantanamo Naval Base in 2005. Artists, lawmakers,
professionals, non-government organizations, leftists and religious groups were
since drawn together in their quest for justice and freedom, prompting political
detainees Eduardo “Edik” Serrano, Sandino Esguerra, Anakpawis (Toiling Masses)
Rep. Crispin Beltran and others to also stage their own sympathy fast. The group also reaped
compassion from Bp. Leo Drona of the Diocese of San Pablo who called for
solidarity with political prisoners among the Catholic faithful; instructing the
Diocesan Prison Ministry to do fact-finding missions and requesting parishes to
hold jail visits. Captive poet With poet Pinpin among
those languishing in jail, it is as though writers, artists and cultural workers
are being gagged – threatened that they might suffer the same fate if they opt
to be vocal in resisting oppression. Even the Philippine chapter
of PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists), a global federation of writers across
all genres that advocate freedom of expression and writer’s rights, has joined
other artists’ groups in calling to free Pinpin – a 1999 Fellow for Poetry of
the UP (University of the Philippines) National Writers Workshop and author of a
poetry compilation called Tugmaang Walang Tugma (Rhyming Without Rhymes). What is the implication of
his captivity for Filipino poets and artists? “Tingin ko mas malaking
impact ang pagkakahuli” (I think the abduction made a big impact), Pinpin
told Bulatlat in an interview in May 2006. “Kumbaga,
sana magsilbi siyang eye-opener kung saan ba
dapat papunta ang mga makatang Pilipino. Kumbaga, dapat ‘yung poetry hindi lang
sana mapunta doon sa libro kundi mapunta mismo sa mamamayan; na dapat magsilbi
kung saan ba dapat magsilbi ‘yung poetry na ginagawa ng mga makata. ‘Yun, mas
ganun ko siya naiisip. (I hope it
serves as an eye-opener on the right path for Filipino poets is. Poetry should
not only end up in books but should reach the people; that poems produced by
poets should serve those it must serve. That’s what I think.) Recounting their ordeal in
the poem “Ang Pagdalaw sa Libingan ng mga Buhay” (A Visit to the Tomb of the
Living), he wrote:
Ang binubulok dito’y hindi malamig na
katawang-lupa To sustain the spirit of
defiance, the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center (AVHRC), a cultural institution
named after the late National Artist who was also detained on charges of
rebellion, visited and brought them last March some books, speeches and
performances, and a petition letter for their release with several signatories
including 2006 National Artist for Literature Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, novelists
Jose Dalisay, Jr. and Ave Perez Jacob, and Parañaque City Rep.Roilo Golez among
others.
At kung maliligaw ka sa paghahanap ng
aming puntod, Respect for prisoners’
rights Though the hunger strike
may have fueled unfavorable publicity for the PNP, appeals that revolve around
the issue of “cruel” and “undue punishment” of prisoners – such as denial of
basic rights like a visitors’ area, sunning and outdoor exercises, conjugal
visits, adequate medical care, recreational stuffs, proper beds or sleeping
materials; and of past offenses such as abduction, torture, illegal detention,
“incriminatory machination” and robbery – are still unresolved. Philippine penal
regulations guarantee these basic rights. So far, the detainees’
request for sunning, outdoor exercises and check-up by doctors of their choice
have been granted. Other petitions mentioned above remain unheeded by the PNP
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) under its regional director
Chief Supt. Nicasio Radovan, Jr. The Tagaytay 5 believe
their continued incarceration without trial and evidence is rooted in the Arroyo
administration’s conspiracy to have them rot in jail bearing the tag
“terrorists” or “enemies of the state” under its “national security” program
Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch). Indications show that what the PNP
and the Department of Justice (DoJ) wanted from the beginning is a speedy
arraignment and a “moro-moro” hearing that would immediately result to a
conviction, they said. On April 21, Custodio
passed out as he tried to stand up. Pinpin also collapsed a day before while
doing an outdoor exercise with fellow inmates. Doctors said these are due to
severe lack of sugar in the blood. It also turned out that the clinic inside the
camp where they were brought in is not equipped nor its personnel prepared to
handle such kind of emergencies, besides not having the courtesy to rush them to
a nearby hospital. If all these were not bad
enough, one of the five remarked, perhaps these are warning signs: their
tormenters really want them dead. When asked what would
rectify the abuses and end all their hardships, they told that all the PNP-DoJ
need to do is simply file an affidavit of desistance to withdraw their charges,
return all properties they stole including the money they have taken during
their abduction, and ultimately set them free. Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
■
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Memos and Verses from the ‘Tomb of the Living’
BY
DENNIS ESPADA
BulatlatHunger strike
Kundi mga pangarap at alab ng hangad ng paglaya.
Ang inaagnas dito’y hindi buto, buhok at ngipin
Kundi mga karanasan ng paglaban ng kauring alipin.
Hanapin lamang ang kurus na
punglo sa baywang ng mga tanod.
Ang nitso nami’y di marmol, bagkus ay kalawanging rehas
At sa lapida ay nakaukit ang walang-kamatayang pag-aaklas.