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“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
“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.
After the prosecution presented several eyewitnesses in the abduction of Karen and Sherlyn, the defense was given several opportunities to present their own witnesses. Not one has been presented since.
Their relationship was tempered by difficulties, hardships, living with risks, and the ups and downs of waging a revolution.
“Why should one stop when a lot has to be done to attain radical change not only for Filipinos but for other exploited and oppressed peoples as well?”
“Happiness is in the revolution,” Benito said, smiling. “I could not think of any other life. There is no other way. The revolution is not a burden, an obligation I perform with a heavy heart. It comes out naturally.”
“They must answer for the treacherous and duplicitous manner in which they ferreted her [Rosal] out of the hospital while still recuperating from difficult labor and traumatic experience.”
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.
“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.”
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.
Residents were forced to sign certificates of surrender, made to attend a three-day seminar, and threatened as the military conducted massive military operations in their communities.
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 fight for the people is a fight for justice and the fight for justice is always right, a fight that is not only right but also righteous. And any fight for righteousness, however long, will always end in victory.”
“Roy Erecre is ill. When he was arrested, he just had a series of laboratory tests and was diagnosed with venous insufficiency, peripheral arterial disease and diabetes.”
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