Sick political prisoner freed

A SICK political prisoner, after five years of detention, was freed on Thursday, February 2, through various legal groups and not in accordance with the government's promise.

Malcampo was detained in Compostela Valley Provincial Rehabilitation Center due to his alleged possession of explosives.

He was tried at the Regional Trial Court 11 Branch 3 presided by Judge Cresencia Cruz and was dismissed last January 26.

Malcampo was one of the 84 political prisoners detained in Southern Mindano Region (SMR).

Progressive groups claimed he was wrongly charged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

In Friday’s press conference at UCCP Haran, he said when he was arrested, he already have a pneumonia which later developed into tuberculosis because of the lack of treatment inside the jail.

Malcampo is the first political prisoner released this year following the 19 others consultants last August 2016 to attend the first round of Peace Talks in Oslo, Norway.

He was supposed to be one of the 200 sickly prisoners to be released based on humanitarian grounds last December but failed to be freed due to legal issues.

Malcampo called on the government to free 400 other prisoners who are suffering from various illnesses, reminding the government to comply on their promises.

Karapatan-SMR spokesperson Jay Apiag said they were disappointed by the government's unfulfilled promises despite the conclusion of the third round of peace talks last month in Rome, Italy.

Their group demands for the release of Amelia Pond, a 64-year-old lumad community school teacher and the only female political prisoner, who is recuperating from her spine surgery late last year.

Apiag said the release of political prisoners is an obligation of the Philippine Government as stated in Comprehensive Agreement on Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, its commitment to bilateral peace agreements with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

“It is a matter of justice as these political prisoners were wrongfully accused,” he said.

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