Pilgrims for Peace calls for release of political prisoners

MANILA, Philippines — A group of advocates for just and lasting peace on Friday called for the release of political prisoners in the country, as part of the commemoration of  International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners.

There are currently 652 political prisoners in the Philippines, according to Pilgrims for Peace, a multi-sectoral alliance of advocates for a just and lasting peace based on freedom, democracy, and social justice.

The group said more than 400 of them were arrested under the Duterte administration.

“It is nothing short of tragic that peace advocates and consultants are among such political prisoners,” the group said, citing Rey Claro Casambre and Vicente Ladlad, both peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), and Amanda Echanis, daughter of NDFP peace consultant Randall Echanis.

“Nursing mothers like Amanda, along with elderly and ailing political prisoners, as well as couples arrested thus depriving their children of any parent, should be immediately released for humanitarian reasons. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, the urgent release of political detainees for humanitarian reasons continues to hang in the balance,” the group stressed.

The Pilgrims for Peace noted that the United Nations Human Rights Council, at the start of the pandemic, had already recommended the reduction of overcrowding in penitentiary institutions, especially in consideration of pregnant women, differently-abled, elderly, those with underlying health conditions, and political prisoners, among others.

“Unfortunately, this call has fallen on deaf ears in the Philippines,” the group said.

It added that the potential of the Writ of Kalayaan, a remedy introduced by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen in his separate opinion on the Supreme Court decision junking the plea of political prisoners for a temporary release amid the pandemic, remains unrealized.

“In the face of possible outbreaks due to new and more transmissible variants of the coronavirus, the unfulfilled promise of the Writ of Kalayaan is not just a lost opportunity but an affront against human dignity,” the group noted.

The peace advocates also decried the government’s “cruel inaction on this critical issue, a stark contrast to how quickly they fill up prisons with new inmates.”

“The Pilgrims for Peace, in solidarity with peace advocates everywhere, reiterates the call to free all political prisoners in the Philippines and throughout the world,” the group added.

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