Cheyenne Suarez

Activists’ call: Free political prisoners ahead of Int’l Women’s Day

Article (news)

Adrian Ayalin

ABS-CBN News

<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1897484221817741725&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-03-06T03%3A37%3A41.707797%3Ae2bf4341-93fc-4b86-81a7-e558ec20f241%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=899ec1623a22206c5f58f37dd8ecc35ea5f4e0ef&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:624px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1897484221817741725"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>Activists from Selda, Tanggol Bayi, Karapatan and other groups called for the release of all political prisoners, including women, in a protest rally at the Department of Justice Thursday.</p><p>The groups said out of the 761 political prisoners, 157 are women who are mothers, sisters, daughters and wives facing supposedly trumped up charges such as rebellion.</p><p>The groups made their call at the DOJ two days before International Women’s Day on March 8.</p><p>“Pinapanawagan po namin kay Bongbong Marcos na imbestigahan at suriin ang ahensya ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict at ang AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines at Philippine National Police sa kanilang malawakang paglabag sa karapatang pantao at paghuli at tuloy-tuloy na pagsasampa ng mga gawa-gawang kaso sa mga kababaihang bilanggong pulitikal,” said Selda spokesperson Danah Marie Marcellana.</p><p>Tanggol Bayi said the country’s eldest political prisoner is 80-year-old Rosta Taboy who was arrested in 2023 in San Jose de Monte, Bulacan.</p><p>Another woman political prisoner is 74-year-old Virginia Villamor who suffered a stroke and temporarily lost consciousness last year.</p><p>“Rebyuhin iyong kanilang mga kaso at ibasura ang mga gawa-gawang kaso na isinasampa sa kanila dahil sila ay mga simpleng aktibista lamang at organisador ng mga katutubo at magsasaka na naglilingkod sa ating mga mamamayan at nagpapaliwanag ano ba iyong mga batayang karapatang-pantao,” Marcellana said.</p>

<p>Activists from Selda, Tanggol Bayi, Karapatan and other groups called for the release of all political prisoners, including women, in a protest rally at the Department of Justice Thursday.</p>

Activists from Selda, Tanggol Bayi, Karapatan and other groups called for the release of all political prisoners, including women, in a protest rally at the Department of Justice Thursday.