The family of Prudencio Cebu Calubid Jr. accused the Philippine National Police of arresting the elderly and retired worker because of the nearly Php8 million peso bounty of a namesake who had been missing for decades.
Children of Calubid Jr., nicknamed Pruding, filed a habeas corpus petition with the Court of Appeal on Holy Wednesday seeking his release after being mistaken as the forcibly disappeared National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Prudencio Calubid who was forcibly disappeared with wife and comrades 19 years ago.
In a Facebook post, Pruding’s daughter Analyn, called on the authorities to release her father who is currently detained at the Manila City Jail.
“Despite the evidence, why was he not released? We think it is because of the PhP 7.8 million bounty on the head of the person whose name is similar to my father’s,” Analyn said.
Assisting Pruding’s children in filing the petition was the National Union of People’s Lawyers, that said in a statement: “The continued detention of Prudencio Jr. is not the result of a mistaken identity; it is a case of deliberate misrepresentation, carried out in disregard of truth and due process.”
[READ] Reds: Subject in Olongapo ‘arrest’ not Calubid
“Given his advanced age, poor health, and the absence of any lawful basis for his arrest, the petition urges the Court to immediately grant the writ and release him from detention,” their petition reads.
Pruding reported suffers from various kidney problems and is wheelchair-bound.
Rights group Karapatan supported the petition, saying Calubid Jr. presented various proofs of identification when arrested in Olongapo City late last year.
Pruding had been a resident of the Zambales city in the past 50 years and not known in his community of having been involved in political activities.
Pruding also worked as an aircon technician at the Subic Naval Base, Karapatan said.
“State security forces, then and now, have abused their power by abducting individuals and illegally arresting people to gain monetary rewards. They have already abducted and forcibly disappeared NDFP consultant Prudencio Calubid and his colleagues, and probably gained monetary rewards for the dastardly acts, and yet they illegally arrest individuals bearing the same name, again purportedly for monetary rewards,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.
“This is the mercenary character of these fascists in government. KARAPATAN supports the Calubid family in their call for the immediate release of Tatay Pruding,” she added.
Karapatan said Pruding’s case is not an isolated one.
“This use of the bounty system to arrest civilians in exchange of monetary rewards is a pervasive practice of the police and military,” she said.
Among the individuals who were wrongfully arrested using the government’s reward system:
• Rolly Panesa, a security guard in a hospital in Quezon City, was arrested in 2012 and alleged to be a certain Benjamin Mendoza, a high ranking CPP-NPA official with PhP 5.6 Million bounty. Panesa was released after 10 months in detention after his petition for habeas corpus was granted by the court. He was heavily tortured by soldiers to force him to admit that he was Mendoza;
• Oligario Sebas, a farmer, was arrested in 2012 and was alleged to be top NPA cadre Filemon Mendez with a PhP 5.8 million bounty;
• Ofelia Inong, a community organizer in Cagayan Valley, was arrested on September 10, 2013, alleged to be NPA finance-logistics officer Lolita Loguibis with PhP 2.05 Million bounty;
• Community midwife and church worker Lourdes Quioc and Reynaldo Ingal, retired National Power Corporation driver, were also illegally arrested in 2014 in Mexico Pampanga, as they were alleged to be National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultants Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio, who had a PhP 10.6 Million bounty;
• Truck driver Baltazar Saldo was arrested in Capiz, alleged to be former NPA commander Virgilio Paragan with PhP 1.05 million bounty;
• NDFP consultant Wigberto Villanueva, again alleged as Benjamin Mendoza, was arrested on October 24, 2024;
• Farmer Ernesto Panganiban was arrested in 2021 and was alleged to be Gavino Panganiban, a supposed NPA leader with a PhP 4.5 Million bounty. Another so-called Gavino Panganiban was arrested in October 2024.
“This practice and policy should stop. We urge the Court of Appeals to grant the petition of the Calubid family. We call on the Marcos Jr. government to rescind all orders regarding the rewards system as these violate basic rights and fundamental freedoms of the people,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)