PESANTE-USA DEMANDS RELEASE OF MAMBURAO 6

Los Angeles-- PESANTE -USA, a Filipino peasant , human rights and environmental advocacy group based in the United States militantly, fully and wholeheartedly supports the call of ther Kilusan ng mga Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KM) demanding the release of all six Mindoro farmers convicted of killings brothers Paul and Michael Quinto in 1997.

KMP or the Philippine Peasant Movement also accused the government of using “divide-and-rule” tactics to bail out administration ally Jose Villarosa, a former congressman.

Danilo Ramos, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP; Peasant Movement of the Philippines), said the government “should be working for the acquittal of all of the Mamburao 6, not just three [of the farmers] and…Villarosa because they are all innocent.”

Villarosa’s wife, Ma. Amelita, is the incumbent representative of Occidental Mindoro and a member of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Partner of the Free Filipino), President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s political party.

The brothers, sons of former Occidental Mindoro congressman and 1970 Constitutional Convention delegate Ricardo Quintos, were killed on December 13, 1997. Quintos and Villarosa are political rivals.

Pesante-USA expressed anger that even when the New People’s Army (NPA) owned responsibility for the killings, the military and the government jailed Villarosa ang the Mamburao Six. Later on, Villarosa and the Mamburao 6 were sentenced to death.

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has asked the Court of Appeals to acquit Villarosa and farmers Gelito Bautista, Ruben Balaguer, Mario Tobias saying the prosecution failed to show sufficient proof of their guilt.

The manifestation, dated December 4 least year, was signed by former solicitor general Antonio Eduardo Nachura, now a Supreme Court associate justice, and three assistants.

The OSG said the confession of one of the convicts, Eduardo Hermoso, implicating Villarosa and the other accused in a conspiracy to kill the Quintos brothers could not be used as evidence because it was not voluntarily given and was made in the absence of Hermoso’s lawyer.

Hermoso, who had confessed to being the gunman, said he was present at a meeting where Villarosa purportedly discussed the killing of Michael Quintos. However, he later recanted, saying he had been tortured.

Despite the inadmissibility of Hermoso’s confession, the OSG said there was enough evidence to convict him, Josue Ungsod and Manolito Matricio.



KMP's Ramos asserted that none of the Mamburao 6 were part of any plot to kill the Quintos brothers or NPA members but “leaders and members of the Samahan ng mga Magbubukid ng Kanlurang Mindoro (SAMAKAMI) a provincial chapter of KMP.” PEsante fulu supports KMP's stand.

The OSG, he said, “must not trifle with the truth; it knows fully well that the Mamburao 6 is innocent but it seems that it is willing to sacrifice the truth and the three farmers just to get [Arroyo’s] ally out of jail.”

“All we want is to have a fair shake because our members have suffered long enough in prison for something that they did not commit,” Ramos said, noting that the six farmers “have been in jail for close to 10 years and their families are also suffering.”

Pesante-USA calls on all freedom loving and justice advocates in the United States to support the Mamburao Six and get them out of Jail.

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