After Robin Padilla

After granting absolute pardon to actor Robin Padilla, we hope President Rodrigo Duterte will do the same to wrongly convicted political prisoners (PPs) especially those who are ailing, elderly and the women.

Releasing them will give partial justice to those arrested, detained and convicted based on false charges. As of Oct. 31, 2016, out of the 482 political prisoners in the Philippines, 33 are women, 130 are sickly, and 37 are elderly. At least 103 of them have been detained for more than 10 years.

It is a great insult, that while the late dictator and human rights violator Ferdinand Marcos will be honored as a hero, political prisoners – the real heroes of the nation – are suffering inside jails.

The Alegre family – couple Jesus (70) and Moreta (69), and son Selman (40) – would have wanted to be together this Christmas season even for a simple “salo-salo” with the rest of their family in Negros Occidental.

But they are in jail for fighting for a piece of land that is rightfully theirs. Moreta, detained at the Correctional Institute for Women, has hypertensive cardiovascular disease. She feels constant chest pains and suffers from hypertension. She said she misses their home near the sea.

Now, Mr. Robin Padilla can be with his wife and newborn child in the United States. We hope the political prisoners can also come home and be with their families. We urge President Duterte to have a heart and get the political prisoners out of this grave injustice.-- from Jigs Clamor, Karapatan deputy secretary general