Joseph Erecre and Mary Roxie Taneo, son and sister of Roy Erecre respectively, called for the immediate release of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’s peace consultant. In a statement released to the media, representatives of the Erecre family said, “Roy Erecre is ill. When he was arrested, he just had a series of laboratory tests and was diagnosed with venous insufficiency, peripherial arterial disease and diabetes. His eyes were blurring, too,” adding he needs immediate medical attention especially with his age.
Joseph Erecre and Mary Roxie Taneo, son and sister of Roy Erecre respectively, called for the immediate release of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines’s peace consultant. In a statement released to the media, representatives of the Erecre family said, “Roy Erecre is ill. When he was arrested, he just had a series of laboratory tests and was diagnosed with venous insufficiency, peripherial arterial disease and diabetes. His eyes were blurring, too,” adding he needs immediate medical attention especially with his age.
Karapatan, through its secretary general Cristina Palabay supported the call of the Erecre family. “The arrest of peace consultant Erecre is another transgression of the said agreement and of the peace negotiation between the GPH and the NDFP. He should be released immediately, not only because he is protected under the GPH-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), but also on humanitarian ground. We warn the BS Aquino government not to do another Andrea and baby Diona,” she said.
Palabay also said there are 14 other NDFP peace consultants in jail for trumped up charges and 13 consultants and staff who remain missing to date. “The BS Aquino government should stop believing it can continue to dismiss the previously signed agreements with the NDFP, turn its back on the peace negotiations and pursue its attacks against the people simply because of its media-generated popularity. The disparity between how the BS government treats its allies and plunderers and the ordinary people is becoming clearer each day,” she said.
Erecre, 50, was arrested on May 7, 2014 at Brgy. Bajada, Davao City and now face charges of robbery in band. He is currently at the Bohol District Jail. The NDFP Negotiating Panel acknowledged Erecre’s Document of Identification No. ND978243 under the assumed name Vide Alguna. On April 20, 2001, then GRP Negotiating Panel Chairman Silvestre H. Bello III issued a Letter of Acknowledgment to Erecre as peace consultant for Visayas.
“It doesn’t help that he is detained in a cramped and congested cell that is poorly ventilated. The cell he shares with common criminals is isolated from the main community of the Bohol District Jail,” said the Erecre family.
Karapatan cited several cases of political detainees not only because of inadequate and inappropriate medical attention but also because of the government’s refusal to release them on humanitarian grounds: Crisanto Fat who died on September 20, 2011 because of heart enlargement; and Alison Alcantara, 55 who died on September 18, 2013 of fatal arrhythmia, sepsis and health-care associated pneumonia.
Erecre’s family also complained the jail management’s refusal to allow Roy to keep books and other reading materials and to watch television or listen to the radio.
Both Karapatan and the Erecre family called for the “resumption of the peace talks to discuss and come up with long-term solutions to the social, economic and political ills of the country. We believe that this will lead to genuine peace and eradicate the condition that gives birth to political detainees like Roy Erecre.” ###