Activist walks free after court drops case
FREE MAN. Ramon “Ka Robert” Patriarca walks out of jail after the RTC of Danao City found him innocent of rebellion charges. He spent five years in jail. (CARMEL MATUS)
A suspected ranking leader of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, walked to freedom yesterday after the Danao City Regional Trial Court dismissed the rebellion case against him.
Ramon “Ka Robert” Patriarca walked out of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) past 4 p.m. yesterday after the court ruling was served to jail authorities.
He was in detention for five years.
Judge Jerry Dicdican of the Danao City RTC granted his lawyer’s motion for demurrer to evidence which in effect dismissed the case against him.
In his order dated Jan. 20, 2014, Dicdican said the evidence presented by the prosecution “failed to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of rebellion.”
Patriarca was arrested by the joint forces of the Cebu Provincial Police Office and the 78th Infantry Battalion while he was riding a “habal-habal” (motorcycle-for-hire) in barangay Casili, Consolacion, Cebu on Feb. 5, 2009.
He was ordered arrested by then Judge Edito Enemecio of the Danao City RTC in relation to the rebellion case filed against him.
Patriarca claimed that after his arrest, he was blindfolded and made to wear a diaper for 24 hours. He was punched and water was poured into his mouth. His blindfold, he added, was only removed after two days.
It was then that he realized he was inside the Cebu Provincial Police Office headquarters in barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
He was also interrogated for about 40 hours without the presence of a legal counsel.
Patriarca said his experience reminded him of Martial Law. “I was denied counsel and visitors. I have torture marks,” he said.
But police officials claimed that Patriarca sustained the bruises when he fell off the “habal-habal.”
As a free man, he told reporters he will spend time with his family before resuming his work as a human rights advocate.
“While I am happy for myself, part of me is sad because there are still over 400 political prisoners spread all over the country,” Patriarca said.
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