“He was not only a senior citizen but (he was) gravely sick long before he died. The repeated call for his and his wife Moreta’s immediate release based on humanitarian grounds along with other elderly and sick political prisoners were also ignored.”
With the death of another political prisoner in jail, Kapatid reiterated their call for the promulgation of the writ of kalayaan – a legal remedy proposed by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen in his separate opinion to the SC ruling on political prisoners’ petition.
This is the second massacre in Diatagon, Surigao del Sur.
“I was so elated that I could barely sleep. I’m thinking that ‘this is it!’ Our long wait for justice is finally coming to light.”
“…[t]here is a reasonable basis to believe that the crime against humanity of murder has been committed on the territory of the Philippines between 1 July 2016 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the Government of Philippines ‘war on drugs’ campaign.”
“What kind of government jails a family for 16 years and ignores all appeals for their freedom although the elderly Alegre couple are eligible for pardon and humanitarian release especially at this time of pandemic?”
Gomez’s arrest is a “serious attack to the Church, grave insult to the Christian faith and sacrilegious assault against our God.”
Zenaida Soriano, Amihan national chairperson, denounced the freeze order saying that it was arbitrary and they were not given a chance to answer the allegations against them.
Vicente Ladlad’s wife, Fides said that his accounts are not from the money laundering or terrorism financing but resulted from Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
“This award also comes at a crucial time, against the backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating human rights crisis and alarming democratic backsliding in the Philippines, and this award is a recognition of the tremendous challenges we currently face amid worsening attacks on human rights defenders, police brutality, militarization, and the narrowing of civic and democratic spaces in the country.”
Contrary to the news reports that there are only three casualties, investigation by the group revealed that there were actually four. The fourth turned out to be Cometa, who, according to the witnesses, was wounded.