Abadilla 5 call on Aquino to sign release papers

After languishing in prison for 16 years, one of the five men convicted for the 1996 killing of Col. Rolando Abadilla is puzzled why President Aquino still hasn’t acted on a September 2011 recommendation commuting their sentence.

Lenido Lumanog, who is confined at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute for treatment of kidney ailment, said he and the rest of the “Abadilla 5” can’t wait forever for approval of the commutation, which would pave the way for their release.

He said they had lost “16 good years” of their lives, and were growing old and sick behind bars.

“I hope they will do some action on this matter at least before I die,” Lumanog, who was rushed Wednesday from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa to the NKTI due to a weak kidney, said in an interview Friday afternoon.

In September 2011, the Board of Pardons and Parole recommended to the Office of the President the commutation of the sentence of the Abadilla 5 to 16 years. Since they had served 16 years, they would be released as soon as the commutation was approved.

The wife of one of the Abadilla 5 said Malacañang had issued a new set of requirements for them, but could not give specifics.

The Supreme Court affirmed in February 2011 the Court of Appeals’ ruling upholding the conviction of the Abadilla 5 by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Lumanog and his coaccused, Cesar Fortuna, Joel de Jesus, Rameses de Jesus and Augusto Santos, insisted they were innocent and accused their police captors of torturing them into admitting the crime.

Abadilla, an intelligence chief of the now defunct Philippine Constabulary who gained notoriety as an alleged torturer of political prisoners during martial law, was ambushed and killed while driving along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City on June 13, 1996. The communist hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade claimed responsibility for the killing.

Lumanog said the wait for the commutation of their sentences and subsequent release had become “painfully long.” He said he hoped the government would be “more compassionate.”

“This is very painful for us. Since December last year, we were thinking we’d be set free. New Year’s came, and we were hoping again to be set free. Come Valentine’s Day, we expected our release. It’s very hard to be imprisoned for a very long time, especially for a very sick person, on false charges,” he said.

Activist priest Fr. Robert Reyes, who has championed the Abadilla 5’s cause, said he hoped the government would avoid a repeat of the case of Mariano Umbrero, who was granted an executive clemency four days after he died on July 15, 2011.