📷: Political detainee Vicente Ladlad
ACT Teachers Representative and Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio on Tuesday pressed for the immediate release of elderly and ailing political prisoners, condemning what he described as a “brazen double standard” in the Philippine justice system that favors the wealthy and powerful while leaving activists to die in detention.
Tinio’s remarks came as Fides Lim, wife of 77‑year‑old detainee Vicente Ladlad, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus before the Supreme Court. Ladlad, a peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, has been held for nearly eight years on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
“When a former senator like Bong Revilla is allowed bail, the system bends over backwards to accommodate him. But when an elderly, sick activist like Vic Ladlad—someone who has difficulty walking and breathing, someone who has been rushed to the hospital multiple times while in detention—seeks the same humanitarian consideration, the system turns a blind eye,” Tinio said.
Lim, assisted by lawyers from the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), urged Ladlad’s release on humanitarian grounds, citing his multiple life‑threatening conditions including asthma‑COPD overlap syndrome, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and severe hearing loss.
FLAG lawyer Michael de Castro underscored the precedent: “If this was allowed for Gigi Reyes, if this was allowed for Juan Ponce Enrile, why can’t it be allowed for people like us? Why can’t it be allowed for Vic Ladlad?”
The Supreme Court previously granted bail to Enrile in 2015 on humanitarian grounds at age 91, and in 2023 issued a writ of habeas corpus for Reyes, ruling her nine‑year detention “vexatious, capricious and oppressive.”
Tinio argued Ladlad’s case is comparable, stressing that delays in his trial—caused by absent prosecutors, missing evidence, and pandemic disruptions—amount to oppressive detention.
“His wife fears bringing him home in a coffin. To insist on his continued detention without bail is a de facto death sentence. How many more elderly political prisoners must suffer the same fate before this government acts?” Tinio warned.
The lawmaker called on the Supreme Court to act swiftly on Ladlad’s petition and urged the Marcos administration to release all elderly and sick political prisoners on humanitarian grounds.
“The right to life and humane treatment must not be reserved only for the rich and powerful. Political prisoners like Vic Ladlad, who have spent their lives fighting for the rights of the Filipino people, deserve no less than the same compassion and consideration that this justice system so freely gives to the likes of Enrile and Revilla,” Tinio said.# (ZIA LUNA)
