Tanikala at Talinghaga

"Tanikala at Talinhaga" (Chains & Metaphors) is a documentary on artist-political prisoners in the Philippines, with interviews from National Democratic Front consultant Alan Jazmines, a poet and visual artist; activist poet-songwriter Ericson Acosta; and film student Maricon Montajes.

Appeal from Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights

Mr. President, your father’s memory as a political prisoner, hopes to bring you to take action to promote the protection of human rights of Filipino people. One of the very first acts of the late Pres. Corazon Aquino, your mother, was to free political prisoners. It was an action matched with her words to restore the Filipino people's democratic rights.

7 September 2012

His Excellency Benigno Simeon Aquino III 
President Republic of the Philippines 
Malacañang Palace JP Laurel Street, San Miguel Manila 1005 Philippines

Transmitted via Electronic Mail and Telefax:
corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph
(+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

Dear President Benigno Simeon Aquino III:

On behalf of the Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR), I would like to bring to your attention, the case of ERICSON ACOSTA, an artist, poet, cultural worker, former editor of the University of the Philippines’s school Paper, and human rights activist—who is illegally detained at the sub-provincial jail of Calbayog City, Samar province.

While doing a study on the human rights situation in militarized communities with the Small Peasants Association of Western Samar and the Alliance of Concerned Samarenos (ACOS), Acosta was arrested without warrant by members of the 34th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in February 13, 2011. A grenade was later produced by the military who accused him of illegal possession of an explosive, which is a non-bailable offence.

According to the counter-affidavit that was filed by the National Union of People’s Lawyers on Acosta’s behalf:
a. He was arrested without warrant while not committing any crime or doing anything illegal;
b. He was not informed of the reason for his arrest at the time of his arrest;
c. He was denied the right to counsel;
d. He was denied a phone call and prevented from contacting his family or his lawyer;
e. He was subjected to prolonged interrogation for 44 hours;
f. During tactical interrogation, he was physically and psychologically tortured;
g. He was deprived of sleep, threatened, intimidated, coerced and forced to admit membership in the New People’s Army;
h. The grenade subject of the case was planted;
i. The complaint against him was filed in court only after 72 hours and 30 minutes;
j. He was detained in a military camp, which is not of civilian jurisdiction.”

Acosta’s incarceration is a violation of Article 9 of the Convention on Civil and Political Rights which protects a person from arbitrary arrest and detention, to which the Philippine government is a signatory.
In a recent open letter written by Acosta’s father, Isaias, it was revealed that Acosta is suffering from abdominal and back pains, is passing blood in his urine and may possibly have a prostate problem due to bad prison conditions. For humanitarian reasons, political detainees like Ericson Acosta, ought to be freed immediately because he is sick.

Mr. President, your father’s memory as a political prisoner, hopes to bring you to take action to promote the protection of human rights of Filipino people. One of the very first acts of the late Pres. Corazon Aquino, your mother, was to free political prisoners. It was an action matched with her words to restore the Filipino people's democratic rights.

CPSHR adds our collective voice to the legions of individuals and organizations in the Philippines and abroad such as the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, the Philippine Center of the International PEN, and Amnesty International in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Acosta. His continued detention is a colossal injustice to Acosta and to the Filipino people whom he has chosen to serve through his courageous and creative involvement in the people’s struggle for their economic, political and cultural rights.

Thank you and we hope for your immediate attention and action on this case.

Sincerely yours,


SGD. Orval K. Chapman
Founding Member
Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights


Copy furnished:
Mr. Jose Arthur P. Ampeso, Consul General 
700 West Pender, Suite 1405 Philippine Consulate, Vancouver BC

Hon. Leila M. De Lima Secretary, Department of Justice (DOJ)
Padre Faura Street, Ermita, Manila, 1000 
Email: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph / doj.delima@gmail.com

Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin Secretary, Department of National Defense (DND) 
Camp Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo Quezon City 1110 
Fax: +63 2 982 5640; Tel: +63 2 982 5638 
Email webmaster@dnd.gov.ph

Chairperson Loretta Ann P. Rosales Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue U.P. Complex, Diliman Quezon City 
Tel: +63 2 928 5655, +63 2 926 6188; Fax: +63 2929 0102 
Email: rosales.chr@gmail.com

General Eduardo SL Oban Jr. Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 
DND Building, Camp Gen Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City 1110 
Tel: +63 2 911 6001 local 8414; Fax: +63 2 421 3531 
Email: bacsecretariat@dnd.gov.ph

A Father’s Plea: Medical Attention for Ericson Acosta

July 31, 2012

DEAR FRIENDS,

Political prisoner Ericson Acosta is in need of medical attention. Please forward, blog, tweet and share this letter of appeal from the Acosta family. We also encourage everybody to write to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to request the resolution of the Ericson Acosta case review which has been pending for almost a year. You may also address appeals to concerned government officials to drop trumped-up charges against Ericson and effect his immediate release.

A Father’s Plea

I am Isaias Acosta, father of detained artist and activist Ericson Acosta. I am writing this while I recuperate from a minor surgery pending further medical tests. Prior to my operation, I was all set for another visit to the sub-provincial jail in Calbayog City, Samar where my son has been detained for more than a year now.

I am now 79 years old, not in the best of health but would not pass up a chance to visit Ericson if I could help it. My wife, Liwayway, is turning 80 this year. She would have gone to Calbayog without me but she can hardly walk without support.
We are both physically suffering due to our respective conditions but nothing compares to the torment of knowing that our son continues to be unjustly imprisoned.

My recent medical setback ironically and agonizingly emphasizes the reason behind our intended urgent visit. Lately, Ericson had been complaining of a nagging pain in his abdomen and lower back. The pain, he says, intensifies whenever he urinates. Now he has also noticed spots of blood in his urine. My cousin, Ericson’s uncle, displayed similar symptoms before he succumbed to prostate cancer.

Ericson rarely complains when he is sick. Even when he was arrested last year, his first words to me were, “Daddy, huwag kayo’ng mag-alala.” He always tells his mother not to fuss over him. Ganyan si Ericson. Hindi niya iniinda hangga’t kaya niya. Once when he was still in grade school, he waited until a “stomach ache” had become too unbearable before he finally told us to take him to the hospital. It turned out he immediately needed to undergo an appendectomy. The doctor said we got there in the nick of time.

Ericson’s last check-up two years ago revealed a renal function abnormality and a possible prostate affliction. So as soon as we received word that he is in pain, we arranged for a visit and asked our lawyers to immediately file a motion before the court seeking urgent medical attention for my son.

We had to skip the visit because of my condition. But after we filed the motion, we were told that the judge in charge of his case had just retired. How long would it take until a new judge is installed? It is as if our frustration with the slow resolution of Ericson’s case is not enough. We are once again left bereft of immediate legal options.

I write this letter of appeal to the jail warden, to the Department of Justice, to Secretary Leila de Lima, and to all other concerned branches of government. I am an old man with no shortage of illnesses as expected of anyone my age, but I would gladly forfeit any trip to the doctor if it could only be traded for much-needed medical treatment for my son. His mother and I fear that his latest hunger strike has further worsened his condition. Ericson must get the medical attention he needs.

I am writing this letter a few days after former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was released on a million-peso bail. I cannot but be distressed by the continuing prejudice of our justice system against my son and other political prisoners like him.

Arroyo was placed under hospital arrest in consideration of her illness. Si Arroyo, sa kabila ng kanyang mga kasalanan sa taumbayan, ay pinayagang manatili sa de-aircon na ospital, regular na inaasikaso ng mga doktor at nars gamit ang buwis ng mamamayan. Ngayon siya’y pinalaya pa. Si Ericson at iba pang tulad niya na ang tanging kasalanan ay magsakripisyo para sa maliliit na tao, nasa kawawang kalagayan at hindi kinikilala ang mga karapatan. No, we do not seek preferential treatment like Arroyo. What we demand is that Ericson and all other political prisoners – who are ailing precisely because of dismal prison conditions – also be accorded the right to medical attention as necessary.

We appeal to all freedom-loving citizens and human rights advocates to once again help us in our latest plea for Ericson. During these disconcerting times, we shall continue to fight for Ericson’s release from detention. We add our voices to all others whose sons and daughters are unjustly imprisoned – free all political prisoners.

Yours,

ISAIAS P. ACOSTA

Details for letter-writers:

Department of Justice

Padre Faura Street,

Malate, Manila,

PHILIPPINES, 1000

Telephone: (02) 532-8481, (02) 523-6826

Email: communications@doj.gov.ph

Website: www.doj.gov.ph

LEILA M. DE LIMA

Secretary, DOJ

Telefax: 523-9548

Direct Line: 521-1908

Trunkline: 523-8481 loc. 211, 214

Email: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph; lmdelima_doj@gmail.com 

H.E. Benigno Simeon Aquino III

President of the Republic of the Philippines

Malacañang Palace

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila 1005

PHILIPPINES

Voice: (+632) 735-6201 / 564-1451 to 80

Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

Directory of Philippine consulates and embassies:

http://dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/about-the-dfa/rp-embass

consulates-a-rcos/phl-embassies-and-consulates-general

on the 2012 SONA & political prisoners' hunger strike

Last September, just as a week-long hunger strike of political prisoners was nearing yet another frustrating ending, some unconfirmed and cryptic piece of news had filtered out of the Palace, alleging to the effect that Philippine jails were now being divested of political prisoners. But the President had not in fact made any announcement acceding finally to the strikers’ call for a general, unconditional and omnibus declaration of amnesty to free all political prisoners in the country – it turned out that it was just the Presidential Spokesperson giving official word that in the first place, as far as the administration was concerned, political prisoners simply did not exist.

It was not however your usual fare of Malacanang farce; Edwin Lacierda this time was not at all the stammering, choking bureaucrat screwing up on an otherwise perfect lie. It was, rather, a highly ingenious and studied performance which, for all its supposed terseness and indifference, still managed to come across as a perversely powerful warning – that as a matter of state principle, political dissenters shall invariably treated in no other context except in relation to common, even heinous crimes. Instead of general amnesty, what government had in essence declared was general policy.

The unabated incidence over the last couple of years of government critics, activists and revolutionaries being arbitrarily arrested or abducted, tortured and slapped with fantastic non-bailable criminal charges, attest to how seriously such policy of political persecution has so far been put to actual practice by the present dispensation. Indeed with the full repressive force of existing laws and state machinery thoroughly committed to the purposes and methods of the current Pentagon-designed counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, the US-Aquino regime is building its own legacy of human rights violations and state terror – now with a record 99 documented cases of extra-judicial killings, 10 enforced disappearances, and 107 political prisoners arrested under its watch. The military, police and prison systems have likewise recently conspired in a number of separate attempts to carry out the transfer of certain political prisoners from civilian jails to military camps to further punish and break their militant response to the debilitating conditions of their incarceration.

Hundreds of political prisoners nationwide including myself, are once again on a hunger strike to condemn the continued prevalence of illegal arrests and detention, and the heightened repression and “custodial militarization” of political prisoners. Under the US-Aquino regime, general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty for political prisoners can be granted only through the strength of people’s clamor and widespread support. Freedom can only be achieved through unrelenting struggle.

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

Ericson L. Acosta
July 16, 2012
Political Prisoner
Calbayog City
Sub-provincial jail
Western Samar

Finally, with Ericson Acosta!

by Sarah Raymundo

Perhaps one of the unexpected things that have come out of Ericson Acosta’s political prisoner status is the fact that Emani Cricket -his only son- has learned to play the guitar so well. Someone or else something must return what this boy has lost to the fascistic ways of the U.S. Aquino regime. This for Eman has turned out to be the guitar chords of songs that Eric had written singlehandedly or with the radical cultural crew.  It was perhaps his means of finding a better way with Eric who has ceased to return to Manila since he was captured in Samar in February 2011. Since then, not a single hearing of his case, no word from the Department of Justice, nothing at all from the state that took him away from his wife, son, friends, and the movement that he continues to serve.


But one Saturday afternoon before the end of June I wed my time with Kerima’s,  and found ourselves with the Cricket in his room, on a double-decker. While the mother was hell bent on finishing an important piece, Emani  and I got busy with the junior guitar which Eric bought years ago out of his savings from a small stipend that full-time activists receive on a regular basis. Not the best guitar I’ve laid my eyes on. But Emani’s hands on the digital tuning machine from Tito Ruel is a magical clincher. I played the monumental intro to Blur’s Tender, claiming it to be one of Eric’s favorite songs even when I wasn’t sure that he shared my obsessive liking for it. After playing the first stanza, I gave the guitar back to Eman. He then played from the top, and no other piece had any edge or significance, for me anyway, and at least for that moment.


Fast forward to Sunday, July 22, 2011, Ericson told me that Tender is one of his favorite songs, and that he and Eman should jam sometime.  I hurriedly marked Calbayog Subprovincial Jail as one of the places where we loved like children, a place much like the University of the Philippines back in the 90s when it felt like we knew each other completely before even beginning. Around half an hour before that, I sent Raia a message and told  her how this short travel  with Bomen from the hostelry to the jailhouse was making me so anxious; I wished this transportation they call the multicab will fail to give me a chance at this vicinity. It was like travelling to the edge where emotions might go haywire and irretrievable.


But the entrance to the jailhouse was smooth. We were welcomed with courtesy upon our mention of “Ericson Acosta.” “Are you his sister? No.” I thought Eric and all the other prisoners are in another building other than the one which housed us for a while, and which reminded me so well of the fact that we have had left the sovereignty of ivory. I must have been swaying from side to side carrying two backpacks, and a shoulder bag which contained Judy’s surprises for Eric (copies of the Philippine Collegian and other relevant university papers, Yes Magazine, Starstudio, a book, a note, and a few things that I had put in, stuff from me and from other friends). Bomen brought Eric a copy of Jun Cruz Reyes’ newest book, Amado, to be launched on Friday (yes, the one from Calbayog gets to read it first), and of Omeng’s Lagalag.


Eric suddenly appeared like some sailor landing from a cruise--poised, genteel, and with the swagger that is unmistakably his. Part of the reason why I was apprehensive in seeing him that morning around 8 o’clock was that our coordinator failed to disclose the identities of his visitors for the day. He doesn’t like that. In prison, he says, he completely has no control over anything about his life. If there are matters or affairs that would affect him for the day, and if these are very well within the friendly radar of the movement, then it should be something that will commit him and his visitors. He wants to know when to wear his best shirt, when to use conditioner for his long hair, and for whom is he making all that fuss.


That circular darkness of the void was not in view. In no uncertain colors did he paint his stories but red. How will I ever catch up in years to discover the pride that Eric has lived through in being with the people of Samar? But he tells of many wonderful stories in a tone so generous, it was almost an assurance that they are ours, too.


Of course there were tears that flowed from his eyes as I was holding the camera that recorded his thoughts on the week-long hunger strike of political prisoners nationwide. Each time I see a dear one in tears, I become a very old woman whose tear glands have all dried up.  That is my body welcoming Stalin and begging him to stay. And I don’t think I owe anyone a fucking liberal irony when it all comes down to some kind of an anti-Wall Street Corporeal Occupy. Eric requested another recording of his message of gratitude and solidarity to those who have supported the cause to free all political prisoners in the country. Tears were shed (his very own, one more time), and I almost hated him for  my awkwardness that smelled like macho shit. He could only say “Close kasi tayo kaya naiiyak ako eh.”


Eric for me is definitely one of those significant Moseses  who have led  me to the promise land. But unlike Moses, Eric gets into it himself. Eric has his own Moses in prison. Moises is an old man who has become one of Eric’s students in a literacy program that’s been running since he got into the jailhouse. Moises loves to read English pieces, he would askcEric to translate every single word he struggles to read. He never had visits from family. He was always out of money. This had been the reason for his low status in prison as he would be the one begging  for food, smokes, and what not from the other prisoners. When Eric came into the jailhouse, he offered himself to be his sidekick. He pledged his loyalty and services in exchange for food and some money. He was baffled when Eric told him that they will share money and food minus his personal services.


One day, Moises son visited him to ask for his blessings. He was about to marry this girl. The son left with the promise of coming back with his fiancée, and a feast that will feed all the prisoners and the jailguards.  For the first time, Moises will have an advantage, he will  not to beg for food but will be  the reason why there is good food. And just because he is a father despite himself. Here is a son, suddenly all grown up, a most welcome stranger to Moises’ life, the same person who asked him to be a part of a very important decision he is about to undertake. All dressed up for the occasion every day for a week, Moises quietly waited to give away his fatherly blessings. That could have spelled endless banter and tough teasing. To Eric’s surprise, the usual badgering among prisoners never took place.


Finally and independent of him, Moises has gained the respect of his fellow inmates through the stories of fatherhood and the beginnings of family life he shared while waiting for his son to come back. His lessons were too precious to be mocked at a time when his greatest expectations failed, and were to mean nothing if amnesty were to mean anything at all to the imprisoned.


I am completely secure about my friendship with Eric. But I do get jealous when friends tell me about new people they have met, people who amuse them lately. I am certain that Moises is now one of Eric’s best buddies. To Moises’ amazement and confusion, a portrait of him with all his tattoos has been sketched by Eric. It was something that Moises could not explain.  Nobody had ever looked at him in ways so faithful , so painstaking, so folksy... it kept his mouth ajar for a while. But Eric revised the tattoos, and turned them into images of Mao Zedong and some political slogans. Moises confirmed recognition understanding of these revisions on account of his political discussions with Eric. But he strongly asserted that such revised portrait is somebody else.  He did not speak to Eric for a short while. That is how I know they are equals.


I did not know whether to tell Eric that Bomen and I will be back for a radical chit-chat sometime soon. "Sometime soon" has always been our deadline for his release. With us when we got there was a motion from Eric’s lawyer to have him undergo a medical check up for his failing kidneys. The hearing for this urgent matter is supposed to happen in Calbayog this coming Friday. I need to tame the wildness of it all: minding deteriorating organs, racing with and against time, dressing up for freedom, gearing up for stalemate, being there. Steady and steadfast, like always, like Eric.

SONA 2012 HUNGER STRIKE STATEMENT

More statements by political prisoners on the nationally-coordinated fasting / hunger strike here

Last September, just as a week-long hunger strike of political prisoners was nearing yet another frustrating ending, some unconfirmed and cryptic piece of news had filtered out of the Palace, alleging to the effect that Philippine jails were now being divested of political prisoners. But the President had not in fact made any announcement acceding finally to the strikers’ call for a general, unconditional and omnibus declaration of amnesty to free all political prisoners in the country – it turned out that it was just the Presidential Spokesperson giving official word that in the first place, as far as the administration was concerned, political prisoners simply did not exist.

It was not however your usual fare of Malacanang farce; Edwin Lacierda this time was not at all the stammering, choking bureaucrat screwing up on an otherwise perfect lie. It was, rather, a highly ingenious and studied performance which, for all its supposed terseness and indifference, still managed to come across as a perversely powerful warning – that as a matter of state principle, political dissenters shall invariably treated in no other context except in relation to common, even heinous crimes. Instead of general amnesty, what government had in essence declared was general policy.

The unabated incidence over the last couple of years of government critics, activists and revolutionaries being arbitrarily arrested or abducted, tortured and slapped with fantastic non-bailable criminal charges, attest to how seriously such policy of political persecution has so far been put to actual practice by the present dispensation. Indeed with the full repressive force of existing laws and state machinery thoroughly committed to the purposes and methods of the current Pentagon-designed counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, the US-Aquino regime is building its own legacy of human rights violations and state terror – now with a record 99 documented cases of extra-judicial killings, 10 enforced disappearances, and 107 political prisoners arrested under its watch. The military, police and prison systems have likewise recently conspired in a number of separate attempts to carry out the transfer of certain political prisoners from civilian jails to military camps to further punish and break their militant response to the debilitating conditions of their incarceration.  

Hundreds of political prisoners nationwide including myself, are once again on a hunger strike to condemn the continued prevalence of illegal arrests and detention, and the heightened repression and “custodial militarization” of political prisoners. Under the US-Aquino regime, general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty for political prisoners can be granted only through the strength of people’s clamor and widespread support. Freedom can only be achieved through unrelenting struggle.

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

Ericson L. Acosta

Political Prisoner

Calbayog City

Sub-provincial jail

Western Samar

INTAL and BAYAN-Europe Solidarity Jam in Belgium

Solidarity jam for detained Filipino poet Ericson Acosta and all political prisoners in the Philippines, held by INTAL and BAYAN-Europe in Brussels, Belgium.

Free the artist!
Free all political prisoners in the Philippines now!

Belgian group INTAL interview on Ericson Acosta

Interview with BAYAN Secretary General Renato Reyes, Jr  by Belgian solidarity group INTAL.

On June 22, INTAL will hold an action calling for the release of Ericson Acosta in front of the Philippine embassy in Brussels. They will also have a solidarity jam after.

FREE THE ARTIST! (Pagbati at Pagpupugay kay Kasamang Ericson Acosta)

Reference: Ted Tuvera, Secretary General
SILANGAN Cultural Collective


Nais pong iparating ng kakatatag lamang na SILANGAN Cultural Collective ang kanilang pagbati at pagpugay kay Kasamang Ericson Acosta, sa kaniyang ika-40 na taong kaarawan, na isang aktibistang makata, musikero, cultural worker at dating patnugot ng Philippine Collegian na kasalukuyang nakakulong buhat nang siya’y dinampot sa isang hindi makatarungang paraan noong Pebrero ng 2011 sa Samar at dinagdagan ito ng mga gawa-gawang kaso.


Isang biktima si Ericson ng matinding panggigipit ng huwad nating pamahalaan upang patahimikin at tigilan ang mga makabayan na nakikibaka para sa malawak na masa upang kanilang ganap na makamit ang tagumpay na dala ng pambansang demokrasya. Subalit, katulad nina Pablo Neruda, Ho Chi Min, Jose Rizal, atbp., si Ericson ay hindi nagpadaig sa mga gahaman, bagkus, mas lumiyab ang halaga ng kaniyang mga obra na naging instrumento ng pagmulat sa diwang, “paglingkuran ang sambayanan”.


Ang sining na binigyang kabuluhan ni Ericson Acosta sa sadyang napaka-dakilang paraan ay patunay na ang sining ay isang sandata na may angking kapangyarihan. Ang panunupil sa sining at sa mga alagad nito na may diwang makabayan ay isang repleksyon ng katotohanang inutil at manhid ang pamahalaan sa pagsusumamo ng sambayanan. Kung baga’y pilit tayong pinipiringan ng dilaw na laso ng pamahalaan upang tayo’y bulagin sa tunay na kalagayan ng ating lipunan at upang lihisin ang kaisipang paglaban sa bulok na sistema sa ating lipunan na tangan-tangan ng naghaharing-uri na iilan at isulong ang bagong sistema sa lipunan na kung saan mananaig ang pasya ng malawak na masa.


Ang kaso ni Ericson Acosta ay isang patunay na walang pakialam ang pamahalaang Noynoy Aquino sa pagpapahalaga sa karapatang pantao (human rights), dahil sa loob ng isang taon na’y hindi pa rin nabibigyan ng nararapat na katarungan ang kaso ni Ericson. Katulad na lamang ng pagkawala ng mga decaperadidos na sina Karen Empeno, Sherlyn Cadapan, Jonas Burgos, at iba pa, at ng kamatayan nina Benjaline Hernandez ng CEGP (College Editors Guild of the Philippines), Rolando Olalia at Leonor Alay-ay ng KMU (Kilusang Mayo Uno), at ng marami pang ibang biktima ng kawalan ng katarungan, pinalilitaw talaga ng ating huwad na pamahalaan na ang aktibismo ay isang krimen. Naninindigan po kami na ang aktibismo ay hindi krimen, bagkus, ito ay karapatan ng mamamayan at kapag ito ay inapakan, tiyak na mayuyurakan na ang kalayaan ng pambansang soberanya.


Maituturing natin na isang halimbawa ng kabayanihan ang halimbawa ni Ericson Acosta, ang pag-alay niya palang ng sarili para sa malawak na masa at ang dakilang kahandaang ialay ang buhay para sa pambansang demokrasya. Inaantay na ng sambayanang nakikibaka ang paglaya ni Ericson.


Nakikiisa ang SILANGAN sa pag-kondena sa panlulupig kay Ericson Acosta. sa kalayaan ng sining at sa karapatang pantao.

FREE ERICSON ACOSTA! FREE THE ARTIST! FREE ALL POLITICAL DETAINEES!###

SERVE THE PEOPLE: Lugawan para sa Kalayaan

   

SERVE THE PEOPLE: Lugawan para sa Kalayaan
Sunday /  27 MAY 2012 / 3 - 8 pm 

UP Diliman Balay Kalinaw Dining Hall

On May 27, a year and three months after his illegal arrest, detained artist Ericson Acosta marks his 40th birthday inside the walls of the sub-provincial Jail in Calbayog City, Samar.

The Free Ericson Acosta Campaign (FEAC), in cooperation with Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto) SELDA and the All-UP Academic Employees Union, will be hold “SERVE THE PEOPLE: Lugawan para sa Kalayaan”, a fund-raising event to help sustain Acosta’s legal defense funds, at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Balay Kalinaw Dining Hall.

Please join us, his friends, family, colleagues, fellow artists and supporters, as we wish Ericson freedom from unjust detention on his 40th birthday. Fresh, hot lugaw will be served at 3pm and 6pm by fellow artists and former political detainees. Artworks, books, and crafts by political prisoners and their supporters will also be sold and auctioned at the event.

Serve the people!

This event coincides with the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, where the Philippines is expected to be "grilled" for its human rights record. There are more than 350 political prisoners in the country today, most of them victims of arbitrary arrests, torture and trumped-up criminal charges. More than 90 of them, including Ericson Acosta, were arrested under President Aquino's watch. 

FREE THE ARTIST!

FREE ERICSON ACOSTA!

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

PHILIPPINES: Poet, journalist and activist remains detained without trial

The PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) International, a world association of writers, appeals for the immediate release of Filipino poet Ericson Acosta. Please visit links at

PEN International

PEN American Center

PEN UK

International Freedom of Expression Exchange

The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International is seriously concerned about the prolonged detention of poet, journalist and activist Ericson Acosta, who has been held without trial since February 2011. PEN International fears that he may be targeted for his legitimate human rights activities, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release if held solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed under Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Philippines.

According to PEN’s information, Ericson Acosta (39) is a poet, songwriter and activist. He is a former editor of the student publication Philippine Collegian, and chairperson of the student cultural group Alay Sinin. He also worked as cultural writer for the Manila Times, and has acted in and directed a number of theatre plays. On 13 February 2011, Acosta was arrested by the military, in San Jorge, Samar, east of the country, on suspicion of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA). At the time of his arrest, Acosta was said to be unarmed and conducting research on human rights and environmental issues in the area. He was reportedly held incommunicado for three days, during which he was ill-treated, tortured and threatened with death. On 16 February 2011, the charge of illegal possession of explosives was filed against Acosta at the Regional Trial Court Branch 41 in Gandara, Western Samar. Under Philippine law, this is a non-bailable offence. Acosta remains in custody pending action by the investigating prosecutor. Under Philippine law, the time limit from an arraignment to trial is set at 180 days by the Speedy Trial Act (RA 8493). However, over one year after Acosta’s arrest and arraignment, the prosecutor has yet to file a formal complaint to the court.

Acosta is currently detained at the Calbayog sub-provincial jail, which is a civilian detention facility. Since Acosta’s arrest, there has been a constant presence of officers from the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army outside the prison, who reportedly intimidate his family and other visitors. His defense team filed a complaint about this matter before Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights (PCHR), but has received no response. In September 2011, Acosta filed a petition for the review of his case before the Philippines’ Department of Justice (PDOJ), alleging irregularities and rights abuses; however, despite the 60 days deadline to respond to the petition, the PDOJ’s decision remains pending.

While in prison, Acosta has continued to write and to give press interviews. For further information on his case, see Amnesty International’s statement; check the campaign site for his release where you can also read some of his recent poems, and the Free Ericson Acosta facebook page. The Philippines PEN Centre has been active in supporting his case.

Please send appeals:

Expressing serious concern for the prolonged detention without trial of poet, journalist and activist Ericson Acosta;

Calling for his immediate and unconditional release if held solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed under Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Philippines.

Send appeals to:

His Excellency Benigno Simeon Aquino III
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
Manila
Philippines
Fax: +63 2 735 6167
Email: corres@op.gov.ph

Hon. Leila M. De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice (DOJ)
Padre Faura Street
Ermita, Manila, 1000
Philippines
Fax: +63 2 523 9548
Email: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph / doj.delima@gmail.com

**Please contact the PEN WiPC office in London if sending appeals after 30 April 2012** For further details contact Cathy McCann, 50/51 Brownlow House, High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, United Kingdom, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: + (0) 20 7405 0339. Email: Cathy.McCann@pen-international.org

"Sipat" from Pitong Sundang

"Sipat" based on a poem by Ericson Acosta. Music by Acosta Universe, arranged by Dibayn Leaño and JM Diego of Los Indios Bravos for the Sinagbayan dance production of Pitong Sundang staged at the University of the Philippines.

Ikatlong Sundang: SIPAT

Sinisikap nating maya’t maya ay sipatin

kung gaano pa katuwid, pantay at pasulong

ang talim at gulugod ng ating mga sundang.

Itinutok ko ito sa langit isang araw

at tulad ng manunudla ng kalaw o pipit

akin ngang ipinikit ang kaliwa kong mata.

At sa aking asinta ay mayroong tumawid:

mandi’y tutubi— dambuhala at de-makina.

Milyong sundang ang tinunaw nang ito’y hinulma,

sabi ng tao, at ang tae nito ay apoy.

Third Dagger: Perspective

At times we tried to see

how straight, even, and pointed

our dagger’s edge and spine were.

I aimed it at the sky one day

and like the archer of hornbills and sparrows

I shut my left eye.

Then something appeared in my crosshairs:

a dragonfly it seemed—massive and motorized.

A million daggers are melted to make it,

the people said, and its shit is fire.


(Translated by Charlie Veric)

Open Letter in Support of the Immediate Release of Filipino Artist Ericson Acosta - CHRP-UK

As published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer -- "Aquino's Disturbing Indifference"

We at the Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines in United Kingdom are deeply concerned with the Philippine government’s seeming lack of interest on reported irregularities and rights abuses in the conduct of the arrest and continued illegal detention of Filipino artist Ericson Acosta.

Acosta was arrested without warrant on 13 February 2011 in San Jorge, Samar. Government soldiers nabbed him in an upland militarized village where Acosta was conducting research on the local human rights and environmental situation in the region. According to Acosta’s counter-affidavit, he stayed in a military camp for three days where he was interrogated and tortured for 44 hours straight. Illegal possession of explosives was charged against him to justify his illegal arrest. He is currently detained at the Calbayog sub-provincial jail where troopers from the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army has camped-out within the jail premises, causing sustained harassment and intimidation to Acosta, his family and visitors.

Acosta has made direct complaints and appeals to visiting local officers of the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights (PCHR) in the Eastern Visayas. These PCHR officers bore direct witness to the highly-irregular military deployment within the civilian detention facility. However, the PCHR has failed to make any report public, more so to publicly condemn these rights abuses.

A Petition for Review which cites serious irregularities and rights abuses was filed by Acosta’s counsel, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) before the Philippines’ Department of Justice (PDOJ) in September 2011. Acosta’s complainants have failed to file any comment on this petition. Without such opposition, the review petition should have been resolved within 60 days. However, upon inquiry at the PDOJ, resolution to the said petition is still currently pending. The NUPL has recently filed a motion for the immediate resolution of the review.

No less than the alternate voice of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, spokesperson Edwin Lacierda has told local reporters that “there are no political prisoners” in the Philippines. When asked about government response to the plight of Acosta and some 350 other detainees incarcerated because of their political beliefs, the President’s spokesperson can only offer empty rhetoric. This indifference has brought very real suffering to detainees like Acosta and their families.

We urge concerned Philippine authorities, especially the PDOJ to act without delay on Ericson Acosta’s review petition and effect his immediate release. His rights continue to be violated each day he remains incarcerated. Consequently, reported rights abuses and irregularities must be thoroughly investigated and acted upon.

Indeed, it has become disturbing to observe how a government led by the son of a revered political prisoner and democracy icon could turn a blind eye to the plight of Ericson Acosta and other political detainees in the Philippines.

Rev Canon Barry Naylor
Honorary President – Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP-UK)
Urban Canon and Parish Priest of the Abbey and Holy Spirit Ministries, Leicester

Statement of People’s Art Network and ICPC on 1st anniversary of detention of artist and political activist Ericson Acosta

February 13, 2012 — Bound by our commitment to people’s rights forged in the International Conference on Progressive Culture (ICPC) held in Manila in July 2011, we join our fellow artists, writers and cultural workers in the Philippines and beyond in their clamour to release Filipino artist Ericson Acosta from unjust detention.

Ericson Acosta was arrested by the Philippine military in Samar province one year ago on February 13, 2011. Ericson is known to his peers at the University of the Philippines as a poet, thespian, singer and journalist. He was an active member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines during its re-establishment in the last decade. He was seized during a visit to Bay-ang in San Jorge, Samar, a highly-militarized village, as a volunteer researcher on human rights and the environment for a local peasant group. Such arrests have become commonplace under the US-inspired Oplan Bayanihan counterinsurgency plan that targets civilians working with the poor and underprivileged.

We admire Acosta’s unwavering commitment to the cause of justice and freedom as an artist and cultural worker. It is this sense of responsibility to people and society that has led him to work in the grassroots and create art with the people.

Even in detention, Ericson Acosta continues to craft poetry and songs highlighting the plight of political prisoners in the country. Online, his prison diary JAILHOUSE BLOG and the PRISON SESSIONS recording of his songs from behind bars have generated interest from listeners and readers around the globe. His work as an artist and activist is recognized by various cultural and human rights groups in the USA, Canada, Asia and Europe.

We urge Philippine authorities to free Ericson Acosta immediately as we reaffirm our pledge to create people’s art and work to shape the society of the future.

The People’s Art Network, which was established following the ICPC, believes that, like Ericson Acosta, artists must go to the grassroots and bring art to our communities, to the people, to our people. Artists must resist curtailment of our freedom of expression, fight for the peoples’ rights and welfare, remember our history and ancestors and continue their struggles for freedom and walk along with our peoples to end injustice in our world.

Oppose attacks on artists and cultural workers, particularly those facing repression, imprisonment and worse due to the link between their art and their involvement in the people’s struggle.

FREE THE ARTIST!

FREE ERICSON ACOSTA!

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE PHILIPPINES!

News Release: February 13, 2012

Please share, blog, tweet, email this post and sign the online petition for Ericson's immediate release at Change. org

NEWS RELEASE:

February 13, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reference: Atty Jun Oliva (NUPL)

(02) 9206660

A year after illegal arrest

Groups clamor for detained poet’s release

NUPL files motion for immediate resolution of Ericson Acosta case before DOJ

A year after the illegal arrest of poet and former UP Collegian editor Ericson Acosta, his family, colleagues, human rights advocates and supporters “demand nothing less than his immediate and unconditional release.”

“Ericson’s sense of responsibility as Iskolar ng Bayan has led him to work in the grassroots and create art with the people. (His) right to participate productively as a free citizen of this country is violated each day he remains in detention,” read a statement released by the Free Ericson Acosta Campaign (FEAC) in a press conference and music jam at the University of the Philippines Palma Hall lobby last Friday, February 10.

The event was organized by the All-UP Academic Employees Union and Acosta’s former colleagues at the university, and was attended by prominent Filipino cultural icons – US-based cultural critic and thinker Prof. Epifanio San Juan, Jr; women’s studies author Delia Aguilar; award-winning scriptwriter and author Ricky Lee; actress, screenwriter and UP Regent Bibeth Orteza; UP College of Mass Communications Dean and popular culture critic Roland Tolentino; and protest songwriter and poet Jess Santiago, among others.

“The illegal arrest and continued unjust detention of cultural worker Ericson Acosta is concrete proof of the existence of political prisoners. There is nothing righteous with having our artists like Acosta suffer in incarceration,” Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) Secretary-General Angie Ipong said in a news release.

Acosta was arrested without warrant by the military on February 13, 2011, in Brgy. Bay-ang, San Jorge, Samar just because the laptop he carried roused the suspicion of soldiers. Due to serious irregularities and rights abuses in the conduct of his arrest, his counsel led by Atty. Jun Oliva of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), filed a Petition for Review before the DOJ in September 2011, and moved to defer court proceedings pending resolution of the said petition. Ideally, a review petition should be resolved within 60 days.

“It is important for us to bear witness to the truth of the injustice done to Acosta,” Prof. E. San Juan, Jr. said.

Exactly a year after Acosta’s illegal arrest, the NUPL will today file a motion for the immediate resolution of the Review Petition. Aside from difficulties faced by his family after Acosta’s detention in Samar, they also protest continued military harassment and intimidation by troopers from the 8^th ID deployed within the jail facility.

“Instead of settling for a stable, well-paying job, or going abroad like his brothers, our son Ericson chose to teach literacy and work for the oppressed in far-flung provinces. Something is terribly wrong when he is made to suffer a year in prison for doing what he thinks is right,” lamented Acosta’s father Isaias, who is now in his late ‘70s.

Acosta was named finalist of the 2011 Imprisoned Artist Prize at the Freedom to Create Awards Festival in Cape Town South Africa last November, along with imprisoned artists from Burma and Tibet. Various human rights groups and cultural institutions, including the Amnesty International, Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines-United Kingdom, University Council of UP Diliman, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Philippine Center of the International PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) support the call for his release.

“Even if it has become dangerous to integrate with the masses, the scholars of the nation know it has to be done,” Dean Roland Tolentino said in his speech at the UP.

Acosta’s songs and writings from prison is posted by the Free Ericson Acosta Campaign in his JAILHOUSE BLOG (http://www.acostaprisondiary.blogspot.com). Pictures can be downloaded from the Free Ericson Acosta Facebook page and campaign blog (http://www.freeacosta.blogspot.com).