ni Jona Claire Turalde
UP Diliman Film student Maricon Montajes and five other political detainees in the Batangas Provincial Jail (BPJ) have reportedly been placed under stricter protocols, after fellow inmates harassed and accused them of hatching an escape plan.
The BPJ administration allegedly conducted a search operation in the cells where Maricon, Romiel Ca~nete, Ronilo Baez, Albert Custodio, Jimuel Velasco and Franco Romoneso were staying on January 5.
Prior to the search, the detainees’ phones were confiscated without warning on January 2 by cell leaders appointed by the BPJ administration.
Maricon’s group then reported the incident and other instances of harassment they experienced from the cell leaders to the BPJ officers.
The administration has since imposed tighter security measures against the political detainees. For instance, six out of the nine UP students who conducted a jail visit on January 24 were barred from seeing Maricon’s group after they failed to specify their names in their letter to the BPJ notifying of their arrival. Only three students whose names mentioned in the letter were allowed to enter.
No such rules were demanded during previous visits to the group.
“Gayong ang implementasyong…porma ng pagbibigay parusa sa kalakaran ng jail, gayong wala namang ni isa sa amin ang nakakalabag sa anumang patakaran,” Canete wrote in a letter given to UP students during the jail visit.
Maricon is one of the Taysan 3, who was captured on June 3, 2010, while inside a peasant community in Mabayabas, Taysan, Batangas. Maricon was conducting research for her thesis when elements of the 743rd Squadron of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) arrested her, including Canete, a farmer and Baez, an Anakbayan member. The three were then tagged as members of rebel group New People’s Army.
For five years since her arrest, court hearings for Maricon’s case have constantly been delayed and postponed due to lack of evidence and witnesses. Maricon’s petition for bail on December 2 last year has been postponed until March 2, after an officer of the court who was allegedly sick at the time failed to attend the hearing.
“[D]inadrag na lang ang case nila. Wala naman talagang substantial evidence against sa kanila, lahat ay trumped up charges dahil na red tag sila kasi they are immersing with the filipino people” said Josiah Hiponia, representative of UPD College of Mass Communication to the University Student Council.
Various student groups have strengthened their call to free Maricon and other political prisoners. Project FreEdom, a campaign coined after Maricon’s nickname, raises student awareness through jail visits, film exhibits, fora, and other activities.
