Bomb possession rap vs farmer dropped

DAVAO CITY—After more than four years in detention, farmer Reynante Malcampo walked out of jail on Thursday, a week after a local court dismissed the illegal possession of explosives case filed against him by the government.

But the human rights group Karapatan rued that Malcampo, who suffered from recurring bouts of pneumonia and tuberculosis while in jail, was not freed on President Duterte’s promise to release all sickly political prisoners, but due to the legal battle the group waged to prove his innocence.

Malcampo, 40, a farmer suspected of being a communist rebel, was taken by soldiers from his house in Pantukan, Compostela Valley, on Feb. 9, 2012, and faced “trumped-up” charges, said Jay Apiag, spokesperson of Karapatan Southern Mindanao.

In her order, Judge Cresenciana Cruz of the Regional Trial Court Branch 11 said the filing of information against Malcampo lacked approval from the provincial prosecutor, leading to the dismissal of the case.

“I know I was innocent. I am happy now that I’m free but I’m worried for other political prisoners who remain in jail,” Malcampo said. “I am appealing that all political prisoners be released.”

Apiag said Malcampo was among the 200 sickly political prisoners who President Duterte promised to release in December last year on humanitarian grounds.

“This has been a roller-coaster ride for Malcampo and other political prisoners since they kept hearing promises from the President and from the [government] peace panel [members] to release them. These promises had not been fulfilled,” Apiag said. —KARLOS MANLUPIG