“How tragic to have Andrea arrested, detained, and have lost a baby daughter over false, trumped up, malicious charges, which the Pasig Court correctly struck down with prejudice.” – National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
"Military agents are working round the clock to discredit the Morong 43 and say we are members of the New People's Army to justify the torture we suffered in the hands of the military.” -- Justice for the Morong 43 Alliance
Republic Act No. 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, signed into law under then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but the way the government has been handling cases filed under the said law lends truth to the legal maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
“The BS Aquino government has shown its fangs once again with the arrest of another pregnant woman. Evil is an understatement to describe the treatment of the government to pregnant women like Maria Miradel Torres and Andrea Rosal. Both were going through difficult pregnancies when state forces mercilessly arrested them on spurious charges.” – Karapatan
Adelyn Valenzuela, 43, and her family said they have every right to stay in the 1.7-hectare disputed land. Their family, she added, has been living there for 17 years now. Others have been living in the area for some 40 to 50 years now.
“The government keeps on talking about development. We demand that we be part of that development and not send us off to far-flung relocation sites where there are no livelihoods for us.”
“As military generals, those who murder and torture, get promoted and plunderers of the nation’s coffers receive special treatment in jail, the Aquino government is on full blast promoting impunity.” – Karapatan
“We cannot just sit back and allow such injustices to continue.”– Desaparecidos
“I have yet to read and know the details of the charges filed against me but I know that I was never involved in any crime that would make me end up here. I demand that they release me. I do not want to lose my baby like what happened to Andrea Rosal.” – Maria Miradel Torres
Erwin Rosales, one of the witnesses against Rosal, was the same witness used by the military against security guard Rolly Panesa who was eventually ordered released by the Court of Appeals after finding inconsistencies in the statements of the military.
“The UN body holding sessions at Palais des Nations heard how Rosal did not receive proper, immediate and adequate maternal and pre-natal care due to the insensitivity and negligence of prison officials and guards, endured and continues to suffer inhumane treatment together with 31 other women detainees who shared her cramped and squalid cell.”
Around 30 minutes before his body was discovered, a member of the Florida Driver’s Association who requested anonymity said Wilfredo Estrebillo arrived at the terminal driving his tricycle at around 7:30 a.m. A man then approached Estrebillo and asked if he could be brought to Barangay Florida.
“He had always known the issues that would arise, whether pastoral or otherwise, because his ministry grew out of the deep well of engagement with the lives of the people.”
The Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines, a delegation of human rights and church groups, would deliver oral interventions before the UNHRC and meet with Geneva-based state missions and UN mandate holders and international non-government organizations.
“Special treatment in jails for the moneyed and powerful – politicians, businessmen, drug lords, errant military & police officers– will always be a casus belli for the underdog because it questions if all are indeed equal before the law or is this really just another legal fiction by the unremouldable maleficent in our society?” – National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
In his motion submitted before the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 14, lawyer Abner Torres, who is one of the lawyers of the accused military officials, said he is not fit to travel due to “loose vowel movement.”
Rosal and her companions were not allowed to read the order presented to them. Their cellphones were also reportedly confiscated to keep them from informing their lawyer and members of human rights group Karapatan about the planned transfer of Rosal to Camp Bagong Diwa. Rosal, her companions said, was forcibly dragged to a wheelchair.
Asked why the Aquino government does not want to ratify the law, human rights lawyer Edre Olalia said that probably one of the reasons why the government is hesitant to ratify the convention is that once it does, it would be incumbent upon it to allow visits of special rapporteurs in the country.
The denial of health care can be considered an act that impaired Andrea’s free will or degraded her human dignity under RA 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009.”– Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Emmi de Jesus
“Why are you still fighting? There is nothing to fight for. You will all be demolished,” residents quoted a security guard who was threatening them.
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