KARAPATAN welcomes the ruling of the Court of Appeals 16th Division issued yesterday, June 27, 2025, granting the habeas corpus petition filed by a relative of an ailing octogenarian and ordering his immediate release from custody.
Prudencio “Tay Pruding” Calubid Jr., an 81-year old retired technician and long-time resident of Olongapo City, was arbitrarily arrested by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP-CIDG) on December 7, 2024 only because he happens to be a namesake of Prudencio Calubid, a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) with a P7.8-million bounty on his head. The NDFP consultant, however, has been missing since 2006, after he and four others were abducted by suspected State agents in Camarines Sur.
Under custody, Prudencio Calubid Jr. was constantly pressured by the PNP to admit to being the NDFP consultant despite the former’s presentation of several government-issued documents proving his identity.
In its ruling, the court cited the overwhelming evidence presented by Calubid to prove his distinct identity from the NDFP consultant, contrasting this to what it called the lack of due diligence on the part of the CIDG for failing to “conduct even basic verification within the very community where Prudencio Jr. had resided for several years.”
Said the court: “(T)he facts … reveal a very troubling truth: an elderly and frail man remains in the custody of the State, despite evidence indicating that he is not ‘Prudencio Calubid.’”
The court further stated that “When the scales of justice are weighed between a citizen who has been deprived of his liberty, despite asserting and substantiating with evidence that he is not the wanted person, and the State that has all the manpower, resources and institutional machinery to verify information and arrest and detain the right person, the Court would not hesitate to resolutely side with the citizen.”
“We are relieved that Tay Pruding is finally free,” said Karapatan deputy secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule, “especially after officials of the Manila City Jail where he was detained initially refused to release him, citing the arrival of a warrant for Calubid’s arrest for a case in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur.”
“The Bayugan warrant, however, cannot be used as a basis to detain Tay Pruding further since the Court of Appeals has already ruled that Prudencio Calubid Jr. is a different person from Prudencio Calubid, against whom the Bayugan warrant has been issued,” said Taule.
“Fortunately, the Manila City Jail officials decided to release Tay Pruding,” said Taule, “because they were dangerously close to being cited for contempt.”
“In the first place, Calubid should not have been arrested and detained. He was subjected to harsh prison conditions, worsening his health condition. He is among the victims of a bounty system of government that has victimized countless others. Tay Pruding has the option to sue his captors, as justice needs to be rendered for many like him who were arbitrarily arrested and detained. There are more than 700 political prisoners like him who should be released,” Taule said.
Before his release, Tay Pruding was the country’s oldest political prisoner. He was one of 106 elderly and 100 ailing political prisoners. He suffers from chronic kidney disease and severe gout and could neither walk nor stand unaided.