Asked how he knew the real names of his alleged former comrades, self-proclaimed rebel returnee and government witness Antonio Panisan said in Cebuano that they sometimes called one another by their real names.
According to human rights group Karapatan, 85 percent of political prisoners were slapped with criminal charges, a clear violation of the Hernandez political doctrine, a Supreme Court jurisprudence that prohibits the criminalization of political dissent.
In their petition, defense lawyers argued that the Hilongos case is simply a recycled case maliciously filed with the sole motive of persecuting their clients.