Calamba 7 out on bail,

Sectors want trumped-up charges dismissed

 

Calamba CityI

 

June 21, 2011

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Photos courtesy of Kabataan Partylist - Southern Tagalog
           
     

 

KABATAAN PARTYLIST
SOUTHERN TAGALOG
PRESS RELEASE
June 21, 2011

Reference: John Paulo Bautista - 09161483935

Calamba 7, released upon P12k bail;
Sectors unite for dismissal of trumped up charges
 

CALAMBA CITY—U.P. Los Baños students are joined today by different sectors in Southern Tagalog to call for the dismissal of the public disturbance and tumult case filed against so-called “Calamba 7”.

Released at 6:45 p.m. after posting P12,000 bail, the group has served exactly 58 hours and 30 minutes of detention at the Calamba Police Station.

The court rules out the group’s petition for recognizance to waive P42,000 bail provided that their legal counsel shall vouch for their presence in court hearings.

Calamba 7 is a group of activists who held a lightning rally during Pres. Aquino’s speech on the June 19 commemoration of Gat. Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary. Five are from Kabataan Partylist – U.P.Los Baños and 2 from Anakpawis Partylist – Southern Tagalog. They are identified as students Michael Jayson Mozo, Catherine Gigantone, Ynik Ante, Bhen Aguihon and Ruffa Solano, and workers Joeffrey Barreto and Rodel Badayos.

A program is held in front of the Calamba City Hall to forge solidarity with the activists. Supporters from the ranks of workers, farmers, students, women and urban poor, marched from the City Hall to Halang despite heavy rain.

John Paulo Bautista, coordinator of Kabataan Partylist – Southern Tagalog, said that justice to Calamba 7 has yet to be served as the court still pursues the trumped up charges against them.

“The fight for our right to free speech does not end with the release of the Calamba 7,” he said.

He added that it would be easy to prove that the case does not have a reasonable cause and that the activists were not supposed to be arrested and detained in the first place. “We call on supporters to shift campaign to a call for the immediate dismissal of the charges.”

If convicted, protesters are faced with 6 months to 3 years of jail time.

Kabataan Partylist – UP Los Baños spokesperson Julienne Urrea further call on the UPLB community to intensify campaign against political persecution and repression of student activists and to link it to the worsening education crisis.

“Aquino is set to deliver his state of the nation address next month. Now is the perfect time to express our condemnation of what they did to our fellow Iskolar. State fascism is not new to us but some of us tend to accept it is a norm,” she said.

Bautista added, “We, at Kabataan Partylist, are going to lobby for an inquiry as regards to the illegal arrest and detention that was committed. We are raising this as an issue of national concern.” ###

 
     
     
           
     
     
     
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Calamba 7 pinalaya, pagbasura sa kaso iginiit
By Kenneth Roland A. Guda

June 22, 2011


Ang Calamba 7 at mga tagasuporta, matapos makapagpiyansa sa Calamba, Laguna. (Kontribusyon)

Pinalaya na ang tinaguriang “Calamba 7” o ang pitong aktibista nagprotesta kontra kay Pang. Benigno Aquino III noong Hunyo 19, matapos magbayad ng P12,000 piyansa.

Malugod na tinanggap ng mga tagasuportang mag-aaral sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB) ang pitong aktibista, lima sa kanila’y mag-aaral sa naturang pamantasan.

Nakulong nang 58 oras at 30 minuto sa Calamba Police Station ang pito. Nanawagan sila na tuluyang ibasura ng korte ang kaso laban sa kanila.


Martsa-protesta sa Calamba, sa kabila ng malakas na pag-ulan. (Kontribusyon)

Sinabi ni John Paulo Bautista, tagapag-ugnay ng Kabataan Party-list sa Timog Katagalugan, na wala pang hustisyang nakakamit ang pito dahil nananatili ang “gawa-gawang” kaso laban sa kanila.

“Hindi nagtatapos sa pagpapalaya sa Calamba 7 ang laban para sa ating kalayaan sa pagpapahayag,” sabi ni Bautista.

Nanawagan naman si Julienne Urrea, tagapagsalita ng Kabataan Party-list sa UPLB, sa komunidad ng pamantasan na paigtingin ang kampanya laban sa pampulitikang panunupil sa mga aktibista at idugtog ito sa isyu ng “tumitinding krisis sa edukasyon.”


Ang Calamba 7, habang nakapiit sa Calamba Police Station, noong Lunes, Hunyo 20. (Kontribusyon)

“Nakatakdang ihayag ni Aquino ang kanyang State of the Nation Address sa susunod na buwan. Ito ang tamang panahon para ihayag ang ating pagkondena sa ginawa sa ating mga kapwa iskolar. Hindi na bago ang pasismo ng estado sa atin pero may iba sa ating tinatanggap na lamang ito na normal,” sabi pa ni Urrea.

Sinabi naman ni Bautista na patuloy nilang igigiit ang pag-imbestiga sa ilegal umanong pag-aresto at detensiyon sa pitong aktibista. “Iaangat natin ito bilang isyu na may pambansang halaga,” ani Bautista.

Isang programa para suportahan ang Calamba 7 ang isinagawa sa harap ng Calamba City Hall noong gabi ng Hunyo 21. Kabilang sa lumahok ang mga estudyante, magsasaka, manggagawa, kababaihan at maralita, na nagmartsa sa kabila ng malakas na ulan.

Inaresto ang Calamba 7 matapos magprotesta habang nagtatalumpati si Aquino sa Calamba noong Hunyo 19 kaalinsabay ng ika-150 araw ng kapanganakan ng pambansang bayani na si Jose Rizal.

Lima sa pito ay miyembro ng Kabataan Party-list: sina Michael Jayson Mozo, Catherine Gigantone, Ynik Ante, Bhen Aguihon at Ruffa Solano. Sina Joeffrey Barreto at Rodel Badayos naman ay mga manggagawa at miyembro ng Anakpawis Party-list.
           
     
     
           
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