2 septuagenarian sisters appeal for release

BACOLOD CITY — It is 3 a.m. and sisters Emma Millado and Norma Erie are already awake, but instead of leaving their respective beds and bantering while sipping cups of coffee, they remain still and are silently praying until everyone else in the room are up three hours after.

Emma, 75, and Norma, 74, do not dare make any noise, otherwise they will get the ire of their fellow inmates at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology compound in Barangay Handumanan here.

"The situation could get ugly if we anger them," Emma says, referring to their fellow female inmates who are mostly serving prison terms for drug-related cases and petty theft.

"The jail guards are treating us well, but we cannot say the same for some of our cellmates," tearfully says Emma, a mother of three. "I am holding up fine, but I will do everything to get out of here."

This is Emma’s routine since she was arrested last Nov. 6 at a shopping mall here. Norma, despite her partial paralysis caused by a stroke in 1997, joined her sister after surrendering to the authorities two months later.

In fact, they were together when Emma was arrested, but the complainant failed to recognize her, Norma says.

"I was confident that we would not stay long because we were promised that we were eligible for executive clemency," Norma says.

The sisters are serving time for falsification of public documents, which stemmed from a 30-year land dispute in La Carlota City with complainants Teodoro, Jesus and Teresita Medina.

Civil cases against the two sisters were dismissed, but the complainants amended the case into a criminal one, according to Norma’s son Henry Erie, a barangay councilor.

Their brother, Rodolfo, was also included in the complaint. He died of kidney failure in July last year while he was serving his one-year prison term.

Emma says they had delegated to Rodolfo the following up of their cases. "Even the lawyer who represented us was his choice," she says. Unfortunately, she laments, their counsel was negligent and they eventually lost the case.

While the case was on trial, Norma was in Denmark enjoying her retirement as a government worker for 42 years. "My daughter petitioned me and I gained an immigrant status," she says.

Last year, out of her concern for her grandchildren, she says, she decided to return home. Rodolfo, she recalls, also assured her that the case was not serious and that he was certain that it would be dismissed.

"Had I known that I would end up in jail, I would have stayed put," Norma says. "I had so much faith in our justice system then."

But after more than six months in jail, she says, she cannot help but blame herself for believing in the system.

Felt abandoned by the justice system, the sisters, both devout Catholics, have turned to their faith in God.

"We attend all Bible readings, regardless if they are conducted by the Catholic, Baptist or Protestant churches," they say. "Our steadfast faith in the Lord is what’s keeping us strong."

In the meantime, the two sisters are trying their best to cope with their lives in jail.

Cristina Millado, Emma’s daughter, looks forward every Saturday when she can be with her mother for a day. She has been religiously visiting her since last November.

Cristina also arranges for home-cooked meals to be delivered to her mother and aunt every day as well as their water supply for their cleaning and drinking needs.

Despite the conditions they are in, Emma and Norma still consider themselves lucky to be at the Handumanan jail.

Emma says they were scheduled to be transferred to the National Correctional Institute for Women two months ago, but this did not push through.

According to Senior Inspector Gregorio Gupiteo Jr., all documents pertaining to the executive clemency for the two sisters were submitted to the Board of Pardons and Parole of the Department of Justice in March.

"We also want them to go back to their normal lives," Gupieto says, adding that he sees his mother in them. "It pains me to see them living with hardcore criminals."

Meanwhile, Norma’s son Henry Erie says the application for executive clemency has been pending with the office of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

A certain Baby Toregoza offered to speed up the processing, but nothing definite has come out of it yet, Henry says.

"It is very difficult for our family to personally follow up because that entails a lot of money," he says, adding that they have been calling Toregoza via long distance. "But every time we discuss the case, there is always a lack in the documentation," he says.

Henry says he has sought the help of presidential brother-in-law, Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, and executive-legislative liaison officer Antonio Gatuslao, but to no avail.

"The congested environment in the jail is affecting the health of my mother and my aunt," Henry says. "They should be enjoying the remaining years of their lives."

"We lost an uncle while in jail and we do not want my mother and my aunt to suffer the same fate," he adds.