KARAPATAN urges Senate to act on humanitarian release of 80-year-old political prisoner Rosita Taboy
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
9 October 2025
References: Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN Deputy Secretary General, 09452966916
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 0918-9790580
KARAPATAN urges Senate to act on humanitarian release of 80-year-old political prisoner Rosita Taboy
Human rights alliance KARAPATAN today appealed to the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, chaired by Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, to act on the urgent humanitarian release of Rosita Taboy, an 80-year-old political prisoner and currently the oldest political detainee in the country.
In a letter to Senator Pangilinan, Karapatan detailed the deteriorating condition of Taboy, who has been in detention since May 26, 2023, following her arrest in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, together with her husband Antonio Legaspi. The couple were charged with trumped-up cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives following a police raid in their rented home. While in detention, Legaspi, then 73, died of a fatal heart attack on April 19, 2024.
Currently detained at the Bulacan Provincial Jail in Malolos City, Nay Rosita suffers from several illnesses, including diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and glaucoma, and is awaiting the results of a biopsy for a painful breast lump. She has also shown signs of early dementia, and her health has worsened under prison conditions. She now requires a wheelchair and constant assistance from fellow detainees.
“Imprisonment for someone in her condition amounts to a slow death sentence,” KARAPATAN deputy secretary general Maria Sol Taule said. “Nay Rosita’s medical condition should be sufficient grounds for her humanitarian release.”
The group cited the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), which affirm that all prisoners must be treated with respect for their inherent dignity and that sick and elderly prisoners must receive appropriate care and consideration. Similarly, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) obliges the government to ensure humane treatment for persons deprived of liberty.
Karapatan emphasized that Taboy’s continued detention, despite her grave medical condition and advanced age, is both unjust and inhumane, especially when juxtaposed with the privileges enjoyed by powerful figures like former President Rodrigo Duterte, who faces crimes against humanity yet benefits from humane detention conditions at
The International Criminal Court.
“The likes of Nay Rosita, elderly, sick, and unjustly accused, should be brought home to their families and not left to die behind bars, especially that she is in detention for malicious trumped up charges,” Taule stressed.
The organization added that October being Prison Awareness Month highlights the urgency of addressing the plight of political prisoners in the country. There are currently more than 700 political prisoners languishing in jails nationwide, including over 100 elderly and ailing detainees, many of whom are women.
Karapatan called on the Senate to review Taboy’s case and recommend her immediate release on humanitarian grounds, and to consider broader measures for the release or recognizance of all elderly and sick political prisoners, in accordance with domestic and international humanitarian laws.
The group also invited Senator Pangilinan and members of the Senate Committee to visit Taboy.
“We appeal to the Senate to act with compassion and justice. The government must not turn prisons into places of slow death for the sick and elderly,” Taule said.
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
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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.