DOJ urged: Endorse clemency for oldest political prisoner

MANILA, Philippines — Rights group Kapatid has appealed to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to endorse clemency for 84-year-old Gerardo dela Peña, the country’s oldest political prisoner.

“We appeal for the urgent approval of executive clemency for 84-year-old Gerardo Dela Peña so he will be included in the next round of clemency grants for elderly persons deprived of liberty,” Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said in a statement on Monday.

“We further appeal to please quicken action on his case since he is already very frail,” she added.

This appeal came after the death of Marcos Villareal, a political prisoner who succumbed to kidney disease last Dec. 3 at the Tinangis Jail and Penal Farm in Camarines Sur.

Villareal’s petition for bail had been granted by the court but he was too poor to pay the amount of P200,000.

According to Lim, she earlier wrote a letter to Remulla on Nov. 29 when informed that the Board of Pardons and Parole “deferred” the clemency application of Dela Peña “to return after 15 years or upon approval of the Secretary of Justice.”

Dela Peña has served 11 of his 15-year sentence.

“He will be 88 by then… Given the congested, difficult prison conditions, could he live that long?” Lim told Remulla. “In effect, the fate of this old man is entirely in your hands.”

It is up to President Marcos to approve executive clemency for prisoners.

According to previous reports, Dela Peña was convicted by a Camarines Norte court in February 2014 for the killing of his nephew in April 2001.

However, Dela Peña said that he was “wrongfully convicted” of his crimes.