The Philippine Online Chronicles

Today, December 8, 2011 the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, families of the Abadilla 5 (Rameses de Jesus; Joel de Jesus; Cesar Fortuna; Lenido Lumanog and Augusto Santos) will pray at the Chino Roces Bridge in Mendiola before delivering lanterns (parol) and a letter to President Noynoy Aquino. The spirit of the Immaqulate Conception is that of purity and innocence. Mary, conceived without sin kept away from anything that would soil her immaculate soul and person. The Abadilla 5 are not saints but they are also pure and unstained by the blood of Colonel Rolando Abadilla.

The innocence of the five men has been continually argued by lawyers at all levels of the justice system from the Regional Trial courts to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Amnesty International intervened by raising the issue of torture as a human rights violation and a very serious crime used by the state to extract confessions from the fall guys. The Asian Human Rights in Hong Kong has championed the cause of the five innocent men by continually releasing urgent appeals throughout the world.

Early this year, the families of Abadilla 5 sought an audience with Secretary de Lima to explore the possibility of appealing for presidential pardon for the five. This avenue is clearly the last available after the Supreme Court affirmed with finality, the guilt of the Abadilla 5.

Today, a fellow Filipino faces execution in China. We pray for him and continue to fight for his life and the lives of so many awaiting the same fate on death row of countries which have not yet abolished the death penalty. Time is also running out for the Abadilla 5. The last sixteen years have been like a slow execution. Each time the courts rejected a motion, a pleading and an appeal, the five and their families die a little. How much have the five men and their families lost over the last sixteen years.

So much of our justice system cries out for reform and cleansing. Our country’s politicians may have abolished the death penalty but they have done little to reform and cleanse the courts from the lowest to the highest (Supreme Court) of whatever perpetuates the culture of slow death or protracted executions in our prisons. While not all prosecutors; judges and justices are guilty, how many are corrupt, having received bribes; ‘donations’; ‘gifts’; ‘incentives’ and promotions in exchange for favorable decisions from rich and powerful clients and patrons? The Abadilla 5 are innocent but are poor and unconnected to any rich and powerful patron. Thus they suffer from a dual injustice. They are innocent and they are poor.

Today, the families of the Abadilla 5 pray to God, through the intercession of Mary Immaculate. As they pray, they hold five Christmas lanterns bearing the words: Truth, Justice, Freedom, Joy, and Life. They pray with fervent and unwavering hope in Jesus. They pray that Christmas will be at last a celebration of the freedom and joy of families reunited after sixteen long and painful years of separation and the search for truth and genuine justice.