“Isang malaking kasinungalingan ang tuwid na daan…ang malinaw na katotohanan sa pagtatapos ng termino nito (Aquino), bulusok itong tumahak sa tuwad na daan na batbat ng pagpapahirap, pangdarambong, brutalidad at sukdulang pagpapakatuta, (The “righteous path” is one big lie… At the end of his term, it is clear that Aquino’s flipped road is marked with oppression, plunder, brutality and puppetry),” said the political prisoners at the New Bilibid Prisons in a statement released through Karapatan.
“Isang malaking kasinungalingan ang tuwid na daan…ang malinaw na katotohanan sa pagtatapos ng termino nito (Aquino), bulusok itong tumahak sa tuwad na daan na batbat ng pagpapahirap, pangdarambong, brutalidad at sukdulang pagpapakatuta, (The “righteous path” is one big lie… At the end of his term, it is clear that Aquino’s flipped road is marked with oppression, plunder, brutality and puppetry),” said the political prisoners at the New Bilibid Prisons in a statement released through Karapatan.
How can he boasts of a tuwid na daan when the people continue to suffer under his failed leadership which cannot even provide the most basic services like efficient means of transportation, cheap electricity and water. “Malaking bilang ng mga mamamayan ang nagtitiis sa patuloy na kapalpakan at pahirap,” they added.
At the Samar Provincial Jail, political prisoners called for justice for the typhoon survivors in Eastern Visayas but have become victims of the government’s criminal neglect. “Marami sa aming mga pamilya at kapwa parag-uma ang hindi pa rin nakakabangon matapos ang pananalasa ng mga nagdaang bagyo. Lalo pang pasanin sa mga survivor ng bagyong Yolanda ang kapabayaan ng gobyernong Aquino,” they said in a statement.
In both statements, the political prisoners scored the government for its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan and the consequents human rights violations committed against the Filipino people; the corruption perpetrated by the bureaucracy; the criminal negligence of the needs and interests of the Filipino people; and its puppetry to the US interests and foreign dictates.
They called for their immediate release and the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
As of June 30,2015, there are at least 537 political prisoners, mostly victims of false criminal charges. There are 17 detained peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The figure betrays the government’s “peace and development” efforts and is a clear manifestation of its violations of the GPH-NDFP agreements on safety and immunity guarantees and on the respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
The political prisoners urged the Filipino people to unite and struggle against foreign intervention and plunder and stand for peace based on justice and for freedom.
Last July 20, the political prisoners in various jails all-over the country simultaneously sang “Bayan Ko (My Country)” with some 400 inmates who joined in solidarity. Relatives and friends did the same outside jails to show their support. ###