Keeping busy in prison
Acosta has kept himself busy writing supporters and thanking them for all their work pressing for his immediate release. He participated in a five-day fast last July along with 300 other political detainees in the country and the 20 other detainees from Eastern Visayas such as NDFP peace consultant Eduardo Sarmiento who’s detained in Camp Crame ;Jaime Soledad in the Leyte Provincial Jail; peasant leader Dario Tomada in the Manila City Jail; and Paterno Opo and Felicidad Caparal, two farmers in Catbalogan.
Acosta’s supporters maintain the blog freeacosta.blogspot.com which is constantly updated. Various friends and former colleagues of the detained post contribute poems, essays and other write-ups calling for Acosta’s release and an end to human rights violations in the Philippines.
Poet Homer Novicio, on Acosta’s fifth month, visited the political prisoner and said even in a cell shared with12 other inmates, “Eric’s mind is as active as ever if only to fight buryong or boredom aggravated literally by a small space to breathe.”
“Utilizing the mind as sole entertainment mechanism, he organized educational discussions among ka-kosas (fellow inmates). One day, they will be tackling whether Pres. Ferdinand Marcos’ remains should be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the next, they’d talk about the destruction of the environment,” Novicio said.
Novicio said Acosta at first ran the risk of being looted by his fellow prisoners, but the need to kill boredom and mental atrophy pushed Acosta to read to the other inmates.
“To his amazement, the kosas were responding as if the words were becoming flesh and blood. Eric began experimenting with vocal styles and enunciation. Thus, Liam Neeson, Jude Law and Samuel L. Jackson became usual ‘voice-over’ visitors,” he said.
Novicio also said Acosta’s efforts to continue writing in prison proves “a mind made keener by his limitations.”
“The poet in him is still very much alive with his poems seething with passion and love for the common man,” he said.
Ericson Acosta unplugged
Acosta’s musician friends have also released a CD album titled “Ericson Acosta: Prison Sessions Unplugged, Unrehearsed…Under Detention” and Acosta joked that the ideas and messages in songs in the album must be the reason why he was imprisoned. The album contains songs Acosta himself wrote during his student days in the University of the Philippines. Accompanied by co-member of the student cultural group Alay Sining and BAYAN secretary-general Renato Reyes, Acosta performs songs that highlight various issues affecting the Filipino people, the struggle of activists for genuine change, and the necessity of artists to choose sides, preferably that of the poor and exploited.
Various concerts have also been mounted to gather funds for Acosta’s legal defense. The last two were on July 13, and July 26. The first was the Haranang Bayan 3 event in Quezon City sponsored by Karatula and the Philippine Collegian. Acosta himself is a former editor of the Collegian’s culture section.
The last concert was sponsored by Guerilla Music Production.
The peace talks and the call for release political detainees
NDFP-EV spokesperson Fr. Francisco Salas said 8th Infantry Division chief Gen. Mario Chan has been making hostile statements against the immediate release of the detained cultural worker. The 8th ID is currently based in Samar.
“The release of some 400 political prisoners in the country is being worked on in the peace talks between the Aquino government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,” said Fr. Salas said.
“Such a step is a matter of justice in recognition that these political prisoners are victims of false charges and political persecution. Gen. Chan’s hostility to the release of Ericson Acosta is fascist and anti-peace. His call for the continued Acosta’s unjust imprisonment serves to undermine the peace talks.”
Salas pointed out that the the Aquino government is obliged to release the political prisoners to honor the standing peace agreements with the NDFP and to move the peace talks forward.
“Ericson Acosta and other political prisoners were illegally arrested, planted with evidence, tortured, and made to languish in prison on trumped-up charges. It’s a just legitimate to demand the release of all political prisoners because this is in accordance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, and other standing peace agreement between the Philippine government and the NDFP. The burden is on the Aquino government to comply with such a just and legitimate demand. Otherwise, the peace talks will become a laughingstock because the fascists and militarists like Gen. Chan are making a mockery of it.” 
