By Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay
We welcome the acquittal by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 70 of five activists arrested in Laguna almost seven years ago on trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Collectively known as the “Sta. Cruz 5,” the activists — National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Adelberto Silva, veteran union organizer Ireneo Atadero, organic farmer Edisel Legaspi, driver Julio Lusania and women’s rights advocate Hedda Calderon — were stopped at a checkpoint in Barangay Pagsawitan, Sta. Cruz, Laguna. They were handcuffed and ordered at gunpoint to lie face down on the ground under the hot sun while the arresting officers took their vehicle.
When their vehicle was returned an hour later, the arresting team had already planted a .45 pistol, a rifle, a hand grenade, an improvised explosive and ammunition inside it. Predictably, they were charged with the trumped-up case on the basis of the evidence planted by the arresting team.
In October 2019, Calderon was able to post bail. The rest, however, who were suffering from various conditions like hypertension and diabetes spent six years and 10 months in jail before their case was promulgated.
The Public Interest Law Center provided legal assistance to the Sta. Cruz 5.
We are glad that the court was able to see through the lies and inconsistencies of the prosecution witnesses’ testimonies. The Sta. Cruz 5 were among almost 300 political prisoners who are behind bars because of manufactured cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. This is the “go-to” case against activists when the military and police are at a loss on what to charge against people targeted for persecution and arrest.
We hope that the other bogus illegal possession charges that some of them face are also dismissed so there could be an end to their unjust detention.