By Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
Martial law survivors, led by Selda (Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto) and Carrma (Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang), and human rights defenders, will gather in front of the Supreme Court on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, to ask the high court to affirm the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division’s conviction of Imelda Marcos on graft charges.
Selda also calls for the immediate release of Gerardo Dela Peña, a martial law survivor and currently the oldest political prisoner in the country.
On Nov. 9, 2018, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division found Imelda Marcos guilty on seven counts of graft, involving approximately US$200 million of ill-gotten wealth acquired through fraudulent private foundations in Switzerland. The former first lady was sentenced to 42-year imprisonment.
Dela Peña, an 84-year-old political prisoner and founding member of Selda, hails from a peasant family in the province of Bicol.
Dela Peña experienced injustice during the dictatorship. He was first arrested in 1982, subjected to detention and torture. In 2013, he was again arrested on fabricated murder charges and convicted after only 10 months of detention. Currently imprisoned at the New Bilibid Prison, his deteriorating health, including severe vision loss due to untreated cataracts, further emphasizes the urgency of his release on humanitarian grounds.