THE BSAQUINO EFFIGY ON INTL HR DAY 2015

Free All Political Prisoners! Persist in the Struggle for Justice, Human Rights, Social Progress, Peace and Freedom!

(Statement of NDFP Peace Consultants and Other Political Prisoners Detained in Camp Bagong Diwa on the International Day of Solidarity for Political Prisoners, December 3, 2015)

On the occason of the International Day of Solidarity for Political Prisoners, we, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants and other political prisoners detained in Camp Bagong Diwa, express our warmest solidarity with all political prisoners in the country and the world, with whom we raise high our urgent calls for justice, human rights, political and socio-economic reforms, peace and freedom.

We thank the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) for its significant role in designating this particular day of solidarity for political prisoners of all nations, expressing concern for the dire conditions of political prisoners, and vigorously supporting the struggle of political prisoners.

Here in the Philippines, despite the denial of the ruling regime that there are political prisoners in the country, the contrary fact is that there are more than 500 Filipino political prisoners, who have long been suffering inhumane and fascist conditions; trumped-up criminalized charges to hide the political nature of our struggles; very slow and hardly moving crawl of justice; and overly prolonged foul and unjust detention.

Unjust imprisonment, fascist repression and other antagonistic acts have not at all subdued and silenced us, political prisoners. On the contrary, such have even pushed us to further press our calls and struggles, resist repressive treatment, survive our sufferings, and win victories — within as well as beyond prison bars.

A big number — more than 17 — of us, political prisoners at present, are also NDFP peace consultants and staff workers, who, according to a long-standing Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) between the NDFP and the ruling state, are supposed to be protected from surveillance, arrest, imprisonment, torture and other human rights violations, trumped-up court charges, and other acts that would deter our effective participation and work in the peace process.

Other standing peace agreements between the NDFP and the ruling state, such as the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), are supposed to protect the people, including activists, fighters for change, and political prisoners from violations of their human rights.

Yet reactionary ruling regimes, in succession, have grossly been violating those agreements and, up to the present regime, have been refusing to rectify their gross violations of those agreements, and release the foully detained NDFP Peace Consultants and other political prisoners in the country.

We, detained NDFP Peace Consultants and other political prisoners, who have long been made to suffer as victims of violations of our rights and those of the people, reiterate our still-urgent, long-standing demand for the respect of our rights and freedom, and those of our suffering exploited and oppressed people, including our human rights, our rights against repression and suppression, and our rights and freedom to pursue long-sought for socio-economic and political changes for the better, and relatedly for a just and lasting peace, in the interest of the mass of our people and society.

NDFP Peace Consultants
NDFP Consultants in Camp Bagong Diwa:

Adelberto Silva
Alan Jazmines
Ernesto Lorenzo
Eduardo Serrano
Tirso Alcantara
Ruben Saluta
Loida Magpatoc
and other political prisoners detained in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City