KARAPATAN railed against the extremely slow pace with which three political prisoners in Eastern Visayas are being tried for a trumped-up charge of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Katungod-Sinirangan Bisayas secretary general and KARAPATAN national council member Alexander Philip “Chakoy” Abinguna attended a hearing on January 14, 2025 with two other co-accused, journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and humanitarian worker Marielle Domequil, at the Tacloban City Regional Trial Court Branch 43.
Abinguna was arrested in one of two raids on February 7, 2020, simultaneously conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 8. He and the four other human rights workers arrested are collectively known as the “Tacloban 5.”
“Abinguna and his companions will be five years in detention this year,” said Karapatan deputy secretary general and legal counsel Maria Sol Taule, “yet the case is still at the presentation of prosecution evidence stage due to unreasonable delays caused by the prosecution witnesses.”
“Their prolonged detention and the undue delays in their trial clearly violate Abinguna’s right to speedy trial,” she stressed. “Not to mention the fact that all the alleged seized pieces of evidence such as the firearms, ammunition and explosives were all planted. Every single day that Abinguna is in jail is a miscarriage of justice,” said Taule.
Abinguna and his companions are among 319 political prisoners who have known trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
“This worn-out basis of arrest using planted evidence must stop,” said Taule. “In fact, there is no reason for these kinds of ill-founded charges to even proceed to trial. It’s a waste of government resources.”
“These trumped-up cases, which are clearly targeted against activists and rights defenders, warrant immediate dismissal,” concluded Taule.