If the courts can extend humanitarian consideration to a politician accused of multimillion-peso plunder—who has yet to comply with the order to return P124.5 million to the Philippine Treasury in an earlier PDAF scam—why is the same compassion denied to innocent, elderly, and gravely ill political prisoners?

By Kasheena Camacho

MANILA — Human rights groups Kapatid, the Laya Campaign to Free All Political Prisoners, and the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda) on August 3 criticized the Sandiganbayan’s grant of bail to former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.,

They said that the ruling exposes a “double standard” in the country’s justice system as elderly and ailing political prisoners remain behind bars despite years of pretrial detention.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division granted Revilla provisional liberty on July 31 after he posted a P1-million cash bond in connection with his malversation case involving an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Bulacan.

Laya and Selda described the ruling as an “injustice.”

“A justice system that favors grafters and plunderers over those who fight for accountability is one that runs on impunity and dispenses injustice,” the groups said.

They repeated their call to “Jail the corrupt and free all political prisoners.”

The groups contrasted Revilla’s release with the continued detention of political prisoner Fatima Banjawan whose petition for bail was denied despite what they described as planted evidence and perjured testimonies by soldiers.

They also cited the cases of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and development worker Marielle Domequil who remain detained after being denied bail despite their conviction for terrorism financing which is bailable.

“But no elderly, ailing and long-detained political prisoner has been released despite these precedents, showing that the justice system treats equal protection of the law as an alien concept when it comes to political prisoners,” Laya and Selda said in a statement. 

“This decision exposes the sharpest irony of Philippine justice: swift, compassionate discretion for the powerful but rigid severity and endless delays for political prisoners and poor persons deprived of liberty,” said Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim.

Lim cited the case of her husband, 77-year-old political prisoner Vicente “Vic” Ladlad who has remained in detention for nearly eight years without conviction on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives which he denies.

“If the courts can extend humanitarian consideration to a politician accused of multimillion-peso plunder—who has yet to comply with the order to return P124.5 million to the Philippine Treasury in an earlier PDAF scam—why is the same compassion denied to innocent, elderly, and gravely ill political prisoners?” Lim asked.

On July 31, Lim filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus before the Supreme Court on behalf of Ladlad. According to Kapatid, Ladlad has been diagnosed with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS) and contracted COVID-19, pneumonia, and tuberculosis while in detention.  The petition stated that his prolonged pretrial detention violates his constitutional right to a speedy trial and cites the Supreme Court’s rulings in Enrile v. Sandiganbayan and Reyes v. Director of the Bureau of Corrections.

Kapatd also called attention to the continued detention of Virginia Villamor, 75, and Alberto Villamor, 72, who were arrested with Ladlad in 2018 and remain detained on the same charges.

In a separate statement, criminologist Raymund Narag said Ladlad’s continued detention has turned pretrial detention into punishment.

“For eight long years, Vic Ladlad has remained behind bars without a conviction. Eight years of imprisonment without a final judgment is already a punishment in itself.”

Narag said that Ladlad “represents a person with a very low criminogenic risk” and “can safely be released under appropriate supervision while awaiting the final resolution of his case.”

“What cannot be justified is allowing an elderly man to spend another minute inside an already overcrowded BJMP jail while his case drags endlessly through the courts.”

Kapatid appealed to the Supreme Court to uphold its previous rulings, grant Ladlad’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and “end selective justice, respect the right to a speedy trial, and apply human rights standards equally to every person deprived of liberty.” (DAA)