One of ‘Abadilla Five’ renews plea for Aquino pardon

MANILA, Philippines—One of the men convicted of the murder of martial law enforcer Rolando Abadilla has renewed his appeal to President Benigno Aquino III for pardon, citing his failing health among the pressing reasons he should be freed.

In a phone interview earlier this week, Lenido Lumanog told the Inquirer he was sent to the National Kidney Transplant Institute by doctors at the national penitentiary because they suspected irregularities in his transplanted kidney.

“One of the doctors there at Bilibid suspects that my kidney appeared to be failing,” he explained, as he awaited tests to confirm his physicians’ hunch.

Since December, Lumanog said, he took medicines to induce urination, which to him was a tough ordeal “unlike before when I did not struggle much.” He added that when he stopped taking his medicine for about a week, he became bloated.

He pleaded for compassion, saying that while the Supreme Court upheld their conviction a few years ago, he and his four other co-accused were wrongly convicted of Abadilla’s murder.

Lumanog has been battling with a kidney ailment for nearly a decade and underwent a transplant in 2003. In the next eight years after the operation, he had dialysis thrice a week since the new kidney barely served its function.

Compounding his kidney problems were other health complications stemming from diabetes, hypertension, enlarged heart and arthritis, he said.

He recalled that after his transplant, his doctor told him the new kidney had about 10 years of proper function, but this could go lower since the donor was not a blood relative. He pointed out the kidney seemed to be nearing its life span of a decade.

Lumanog asked Mr. Aquino if he could “please take a look at our appeal.”

“Please, Mr. President, help us,” he continued. “We’ve already suffered for something we never did.”

Lumanog and the other convicts—Cesar Fortuna, Rameses de Jesus, Lorenzo de los Santos and Jose de Jesus—consistently maintained they had nothing to do with the shooting of Abadilla, who was killed in broad daylight in Quezon City on June 13, 1996.

Abadilla, who headed the intelligence and security group of the dreaded Metropolitan Command (Metrocom) of the Philippine Constabulary, had been widely accused of torturing detainees during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

The Supreme Court upheld their convictions in 2011.