“It is quite ironic that intensification of fascist reprisals and restrictions have taken place on the 29th anniversary of People Power that overthrew the Marcos Fascist Dictatorship.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Political prisoners in Camp Bagong Diwa criticized the escalated reprisal against them by jail authorities, following the charges filed against the controversial jail warden.
On Feb. 24, in time for the country’s commemoration of the EDSA uprising, jail authorities has once again barred human rights workers of Karapatan to visit the political prisoners.
“It is quite ironic that such further intensification of fascist reprisals and restrictions have taken place on the 29th anniversary of People Power Uprising that overthrew the Marcos Fascist Dictatorship in 1986. We call for the real replacement of fascism and its fake garb of democratic pretense, by the institution in their place, of real people’s democracy,” the statement of political prisoners read.
The statement was signed by detained peace consultants of the National Democratic Front namely: Alan Jazmines, Emeterio Antalan, Leopoldo Caloza and Tirso Alcantara.
Their visitors, among whom was Roneo Clamor, spokesperson of rights group Selda, were told to secure clearance from higher jail authorities such as from the national headquarters of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Political prisoners said jail authorities have “worked up vicious schemes to induce other inmates, particularly the lumpen prison gang lapdogs, into making vicious antagonism and threats against our lives and limbs, by also barring their visitors a couple of times and blaming us for our ‘foolishness of a hunger strike.’”
Such escalated reprisal against political prisoners began when charges were filed against Jail inspector Michelle Ng-Bonto of the Special Intensive Care Area of the Camp Bagong Diwa.
On Feb. 12, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyer and the Public Interest Law Center filed a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against Ng-Bonto. Charges include: violations of Republic Act No. 7438, a law that stipulates rights of a detained person, grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, gross oppression, and conduct unbecoming of a public officer.
An earlier complaint against Ng-Bonto was filed before the Taguig Regional Trial Court 266 and 277 on Jan. 27.
Political prisoners, in a statement sent to the media, said the repressive measures began when they held the 10-day hunger strike during the papal visit, demanding for their release.
During the said hunger strike, Dr. Julie Caguiat of the Council for Health and Development, along with paralegal Bernard Zamora, were barred from entering SICA-1. Both are frequent visitors of political prisoners but were told that they are not in the prisoners’ list of visitors and doctors and should secure permit from the BJMP.
“We waged such acts of self-sacrifice to amplify our calls for our freedom, for justice, for real solutions to social ills, for serious efforts towards peace in our country,” the statement read.
Political prisoners called for their immediate release and for the resumption of the long-stalled peace talk between the Philippine government and the NDFP.
Meanwhile, Karapatan, in a separate statement, called for the immediate suspension of Ng-Bonto.
“Ng-Bonto is into power trip, but we are not scared. She will, after all, account for this before the court,” Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, said. 
