One may see “limited joy” this Christmas in the faces of three men who walked out of prison on December 11, a day after International Human Rights Day. They may be considered “free men” now but for them, the struggle to be free continues as they join a society that they say remains imprisoned by a rotten system.
BY DEE AYROSO
Bulatlat
For 17 years, Modesto Tobias, Julito Tobias and Ramil Orgasan were among the political prisoners at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who looked forward to the “Paskuhan sa NBP” (Christmas at the NBP) organized every year by human rights workers and advocates under SELDA (Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Para sa Amnestiya or Association of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and For Amnesty).
This year, however, the three men laughed, sang songs and took part in the Christmas celebration along with the inmates of Brigada 11 not in the tangerine shirt worn by inmates but in regular clothes. They were already free men.
Christmas came early for Modesto, 64, Julito, 36 and Ramil, 40, as they walked out of the NBP on Dec. 11, after their life sentence was commuted. NBP is Muntinlupa, just south of Manila.
In spite of their regained freedom and the holiday festive mood, the three were not so exuberant. “Ang masasabi ko lang sa mga kasamang naiwan, manatiling buo ang loob, ihanda ang sarili sa paglabas dito (All I can say to those who still remain here, stay firm, and prepare for the day when you leave this place),” said Ramil as he spoke to his former fellow inmates at the Christmas program.
“Lumabas lang kami ng kulungan, patungo sa mas malaking kulungan (We left the prison, only to enter a bigger prison),” said Julito for his part.
Victims of injustice
Modesto, his brother Bartolome, Ramil and Julito were found guilty of robbery in band with homicide and were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990. It was a crime they did not commit, they said.
“Walang warrant of arrest, hindi patas ang paghatol sa kaso, at wala naman silang matibay na ebidensiya (There was no warrant of arrest, the judgment was not fair, and they did not have any strong evidence),” Julito said in an interview. He said they were targeted because they were members of the local peasant group in their respective communities. Modesto and Bartolome belonged to a peasant community organization, while Julito and Ramil were with the peasant youth group in their villages in Samar.
Bartolome was first to be arrested by the 34th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army on April 18, 1989, in his home in San Rafael village, Hinabangan town, Samar. Modesto was arrested in his home at 3 am the day after (April 19), also by the 34th IB. On the other hand, 14th Infantry Battalion arrested Ramil on April 21 in the same village. The 34th IB soldiers arrested Julito at a military checkpoint in Cansulabao village, Hinabangan.
Julito, then 19, was charged with three cases of robbery. There was no complainant and all three cases were immediately dismissed. But the military filed a fourth case, implicating Julito in robbery in band with homicide filed against the Tobias brothers and Ramil.
The Tobias brothers’ villagemate, Luisito Estaron, was presented by the military as a witness against the four. They were sentenced in 1990 after more than a year in detention at the Catbalogan Provincial Jail. They were then transferred to the NBP in Muntinlupa City where they would later be assigned to Brigada 11 (the political prisoners section) in 1995.
