Rights groups: Jail the corrupt, free all political prisoners!

[KARAPATAN Public Information]

PRESS RELEASE

November 13, 2025

Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831

KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580

Rights groups: Jail the corrupt, free all political prisoners!

In a press conference today, the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), an organization of former political prisoners, and human rights alliance Karapatan are in full solidarity with Kilos Bayan Kontra Kurakot (KBKK) as the latter gears for a massive protest rally on November 30th in Luneta, Manila and in several cities to demand that corrupt government officials and their cohorts be held accountable for their crimes. SELDA and Karapatan reiterate this call along with its longstanding demand to free all political prisoners.

“The continued incarceration of 697 political prisoners in various detention facilities nationwide becomes especially unjust considering that not a single top government official accused of corruption is in jail. Political prisoners have been slapped with trumped-up charges based on manufactured evidence and perjured testimonies and do not deserve to spend a day longer behind bars. On the other hand, corrupt officials have been able to avoid jail despite the glaring pieces of evidence against them,” SELDA said.

SELDA members Julieta Gomez and John Griefen Arlegui, all former political prisoners, and Iris Domequil, sister of detained humanitarian worker Marielle Domequil, joined the press conference. They also recounted the inhumane conditions inside congested jails in the country, with political prisoners and ordinary detainees bearing the brunt of measly budget allocations for food and medical services as well as corrupt practices of jail authorities.

According to the Department of Justice, persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are lucky if they get PhP45 worth of food per day. The daily medicine budget for PDLs is currently set at PhP15 per person. There are also reports on restrictions on entry of food and other supplies from visitors of PDLs, while goods being sold inside jails, mostly with the backing of jail officers, are exorbitantly high.

Meanwhile, KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay stressed that the current anti-corruption investigations have so far avoided linking anomalous infrastructure projects to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose imprimatur spurred these projects in the first place. “Marcos Jr.’s lead role in the corruption scandal is the elephant in the room,” said Palabay. “No anti-corruption probe can be credible without acknowledging the fact that Marcos Jr. is just as culpable for the raging bureaucrat capitalist plunder as his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.”

KARAPATAN and SELDA said that street protests will continue, as the organizations are also geared to lead protests against corruption and fascist attacks under the Marcos Jr. administration on International Human Rights Day on December 10. #

Photos by KARAPATAN

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Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights

2nd Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District

Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101

Telefax: (+63 2) 7090 8183

Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. 

[KARAPATAN Public Information]

Please see the livestream of the Press Conference here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Gd3JR7JiJ/

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publi...@karapatan.org 
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Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights

2nd Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District

Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101

Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146

Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.