Group calls PNoy 'heartless' after death of political prisoner

Rights group Task Force Detainees of the Philippines called Benigno Aquino III a president without compassion after he failed to act on a request to free 63-year-old, cancer-stricken political prisoner Mariano Umbrero, who died last Friday.

“He is a heartless president bereft of any compassion for victims of human rights violation. Tatay Umbrero’s death shows that President Aquino’s ‘Matuwid na Daan' [straight path] slogan is a mirage," said Emmanuel Amistad, TFDP's executive director. In the morning of July 15, 2011, Umbrero died at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Hospital. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in February this year. The TFDP, together with other members of the human rights community, had appealed for Umbrero's release on humanitarian grounds, but the group's plea remained unanswered. President Aquino did not even lift a finger to let the dying Umbrero experience freedom before he breathed his last. Umbrero was convicted of kidnapping and was charged as member of the rebel group New People’s Army during the Martial Law era. He was released under conditional pardon by former President Ramos and was arrested in 2004 due to "resurrected" murder charges. Up to his last breath he maintained his innocence, the TFDP said. SOS campaign The TFDP launched in March an S.O.S. campaign to free Umbrero. This was done by sending urgent alerts (letter of appeal) to its various partners. This was followed by an online barrage of appeals posted on Facebook to call the attention of Aquino and other concerned government agencies. It also sent a letter of appeal to the Office of the President, while the Medical Action Group (MAG) sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Students from the De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde, with the help of its Social Action Center, responded by sending individual letters of appeal to government agencies. The students asked their friends to do the same. Members of the Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT), one of TFDP’s international partners, also sent letters to PNoy and the DOJ. Many friends on Facebook also responded by bombarding PNoy’s Facebook page. Letters were also sent to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Both the DOJ and the DSWD referred the request to the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP). The Office of Political Affairs under the Office of the President also replied by asking TFDP to provide them with pertinent documents regarding Umbrero’s case. But the BPP responded by saying that its processing at the time was put on hold. Umbrero's physical condition had been rapidly deteriorating, TFDP said, adding that he was very much qualified for pardon and even for executive clemency. TFDP also said Umbrero should not have been imprisoned in the first place because of his political belief. According to the TFDP, DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima visited Umbrero last July 7, after several followups and through the help of Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Lorreta Ann "Etta" Rosales. De Lima then ordered the NBP officials to process the release of Umbrero as soon as possible. “We have been receiving the same answers from all concerned government agencies since we started appealing for Umbrero's release last March. We all ended up in the bureaucratic process of the government that only showed that this government failed to understand and consider the urgency of granting a dying man his request. Tatay Umbrero was no ordinary prisoner, he was a victim of injustice of the system," TFDP's Amistad said. Prison reforms Umbrero’s death has prompted health group MAG to call for prison reforms in the country. It said Umbrero was diagnosed with lung cancer last February and his condition deteriorated quickly to stage 4, and that he had been in and out of NBP hospital. MAG submitted to the DOJ proposed amendments on the Rules of Parole and Amended Guidelines for Recommending Executive Clemency of the 2006 Revised Manual of the Board of Pardons and Parole, Section 3, Extraordinary Circumstances. The proposed amendments are:

• On the age cut-off, we proposed to lower the age requirement to sixty (60) from seventy (70) years old; and
• To include terminally ill prisoners and debilitating diseases.

“We call on PNoy and the DOJ to study our proposals when it comes to rehabilitation of elderly and terminally-ill prisoners," MAG said. — Egay Cabalitan Jr. and Jerbert Briola/LBG, GMA News