April 14, 2020
The Honorable Diosdado M. Peralta
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the Philippines
Dear Hon. Peralta,
We hope that Your Honor and your family as well as the Justices and staff of the Supreme Court are healthy and safe during this COVID 19 pandemic to be able to perform your important duty of protecting justice in our country!
For humanitarian reasons, may I respectfully appeal for the release of my 60- year old husband Ferdinand Castillo along with other sick, elderly and pregnant prisoners to protect his delicate health against COVID 19!
Attached herewith is a letter of guarantee under recognizance of Mr. Hilarion “Larry” M. Henares, Jr. whom I have worked with from 2006 to 2014 inclusive of the years that I worked as a Presidential Consultant of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2008 to 2010.
Even before his detention at Camp Bagong Diwa MMDJ 4 in March 2017, he is already hypertensive and had bouts of arrhythmia and transient ischemic attack (TIA) known as mini-strokes. My husband was diagnosed with gout (1983) and rheumatic heart disease (1995) and was injected with medications for several years. Aware of his family history, I am very concerned of his health even prior to his detention. Six (6) of his maternal cousins died of heart attack in their 40s while his father died of heart attack too. His health status makes him very vulnerable to the COVID infection.
When he was arrested, his blood pressure shot up and remained elevated despite 6 medications that were prescribed to him by a cardiologist from Philippine Heart Center. Due to episodes of bloody stools, he had to discontinue the medications upon the recommendation of our lifestyle medicine doctor. Thus, he is in a precarious situation with no maintenance medicines to control his hypertension. Since his arrest, we struggled hard to prevent the deterioration of his health. Under detention, this is very difficult because he needs constant monitoring, check-ups and special needs that I need to deliver 2- 3 times a week.
My husband Ferdinand has been very active in campaigning for peasant and human rights since our student days at the University of the Philippines. In 1996, while recuperating from rheumatic heart disease, he went back to UP Diliman to finish his BS Mathematics degree major in Actuarial Science. He turned down several job offers from companies after his graduation and chose to continue working for the interest of the urban poor and workers to protect their rights to decent living and secure jobs.
Ferdinand generously volunteered his computer knowhow and other skills to Nurturers of the Earth, an NGO I founded in 2004 that promotes earth- friendly parenting and lifestyle supporting families in breastfeeding and indigenous vegan/vegetarian diet. With his help, we also organized classes and trainings for urban poor mothers in Metro Manila.
When he was arrested in February 2017, a gun was planted in his possession and he was accused of trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms, multiple murder and several counts of attempted murder allegedly committed in Calauag, Quezon, a place where he had never set foot! Your Honor, our family does not even kill for food! My husband deserves to be free and enjoy his senior years, safe and healthy with his family.
Ferdinand is a gender-sensitive, soft-spoken husband and father who understands and respects empowered women like me. We have been married since 1987 and there was no instance that he hurt my child and me physically. With a lockdown, his medical condition and special needs become more arduous to attend to, amplifying his vulnerability to possible infection with COVID 19.
According to Malacañang’s weekly report, the Bureau of Corrections facilities reported that 74 prisoners and 80 personnel are under the (Person Under Monitoring) PUMs category. With the current congestion rate of Philippine prisons, the release of vulnerable prisoners like Ferdinand will avert what Pope Francis warned as a “danger that this pandemic will end in serious calamity.”
I am nearly 60 years old and have a history of many infectious diseases and illnesses myself. Thus, I also need to observe self-quarantine at home instead of exposing myself to possible infection when I travel from the northern part of Metro Manila to Bicutan.
I fervently hope that the Supreme Court will heed the call of families of political prisoners to release them immediately as a gesture of compassion that were bestowed to other elderly personalities who were convicted of crimes like Juan Ponce Enrile and Imelda Marcos.
Gratefully,
(Sgd.)
Nona D. Andaya-Castillo, IBCLC
Wife of Ferdinand Castillo
Letter was originally published by Kapatid – Families and Friends of Political Prisoners
