We, the undersigned organizations, renew our vigil today to press for freedom and justice for the political prisoners of our country. We steadfastly and unequivocally support the hunger strike of the political prisoners of Muntinglupa and other prison camps nationwide which begins today, January 3 of the New Year[1995].

We demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners NOW! As an act of justice that has been long delayed and long denied. Granting them freedom NOW! Would redress not merely the specific injustice done to individuals but the socio-economic problems that lie at the root of political imprisonment.

In many ways, the history of political prisoners is the history of Filipino people. It is the history of asserting that primordial right recognized by universal law - the right to revolt against an oppressive order that wages violence against the people and subverts the common good. It is the history of men and women of exemplary courage and nationalist vision who through the generations have laid down their lives so that others may live unbowed by the yoke of injustice and oppression.

Today, the ideas and ideals that motivated our country’s foremost political prisoners of yesteryears - Rizal and Mabini - live on in a new breed. Numbering 291, the political prisoners of today comprise poor peasants and workers - the lowest of the low in class-torn, strife ridden Philippine society. They are mostly accused of being New People’s Army (NPA) members or mass supporters of the national democratic revolution which has been going on in our country for over 26 years now.

The gravity of the political prisoners’ condition is measured not in their number but the severity of the capital penalty imposed on them. To keep them locked in jail, the Ramos government has continued the past Marcos and Aquino policy of fabricating criminal charges against them in a bid to deny their political status and their historic grievances. In much the same way that the colonial regimes condemned the political prisoners of old as filibusteros and tulisanes, the present regimes criminalizes political prisoners to deprive them of the distinction that has made political imprisonment a signal honor and badge of courage in the Philippines, especially at the time Marcos dictatorship.

The presidential guidelines covering the ostensible release of political prisoners in but an extension of the policy of criminalization. Its actual objective is to hinder their immediate release and to pacify and constrict human rights organizations within the framework dictated by the almighty exigencies of "national security." The fact is under these presidential guidelines, less than 18% of the political prisoners have been released, majority of whom gained temporary freedom primarily through normal judicial processes and only after paying exorbitant bail. On the whole, the tactic of criminalization is part and parcel of the "total war" policy of this government. The other components of this counter-insurgency strategy range from hamletting (forcible encampment of entire communities in military barracks) and salvaging (military term for summary execution) to the ongoing militarization of the civil bureaucracy, all of which put this Government of Generals in a virtual state of war against the people.

The political prisoners are the conscience of society. They are the symbols of problems unresolved, of revolutions unfinished, of aspirations unfulfilled, of people power disempowered. As long as the political prisoner remains in jail, this regime can never realize the peace and justice it supposedly seek. With its failure to decisively address the conditions that breed political imprisonment, the roots of rebellion and revolution cannot persist. As history has shown, governments can jail a revolutionary, but they can never jail a revolution.

Thus, we reiterate today: Open the gates of prison, set the political prisoners free - NOW! Justice for all political prisoners and victims of human rights violations - NOW!

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN, New Patriot Alliance)

Kilusan Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement)

League of Filipino Students (LFS)

Alliance for the Advancement of the People’s Rights (KARAPATAN)

3 January 1995