President Duterte and Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra have been asked to grant executive clemency to the imprisoned wife and son of the late prisoner Jesus Alegre.
Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza of San Carlos, Negros Occidental made the appeal on behalf of Alegre’s wife Morita and their son Selman in his June 24 letter.
“I also appeal for Executive Clemency for Morita and her son Selman, or for the review of their conviction, and that they be set free,” Alminaza said.
The bishop also pleaded that Morita and Selman be allowed to attend Alegre’s funeral of Alegre on June 30.
Alegre, who had been detained for 16 years, died at the Ospital ng Muntinlupa last June 13. His remains were flown back to his home town in Negros Occidental.
Though Alegre is “now free at last from worldly greed, oppression and injustice,” the prelate lamented that “his widow and son, both unjustly convicted and imprisoned for the last 16 years, continue to languish and suffer in separate jails.”
“Alegre was a poor man who could barely read and write, while his wife Morita is illiterate. Alegre supported his wife and 7 children through coconut farming and fishing in Barangay Taba-ao, Sagay, Negros Occidental. His farm consisted merely of 1.12 hectares which he inherited from his parents, on which he planted coconut trees,” he said.
He claimed that a town official took interest over the land and even sent “a group of hired goons” who killed his son Romeo in 1994.
He also said: “On April 14, 2005, Alegre was arrested, along with his wife Morita and son Selman, and charged for the murder of Rogelio Tipon. They were put to prison starting that day. The main witnesses to the murder charge were the town official and his wife. The wife of the town official later executed an Affidavit of Desistance, and recanted her testimony regarding Alegre’s involvement in the crime. But the town official insisted on the case. On April 14, 2009, despite the doubts cast on evidence, Alegre, his wife and son were found guilty for murder of the hired goon and were sentenced to reclusion perpetua.”
Also, the bishop appealed “for the freedom of the many poor who are similarly situated as the Alegres.”
“Land grabbing is an old and persistent problem in Negros where the wealthy and powerful families have used both private and government instrumentalities to defeat the poor’s rights over their small parcels of land,” he lamented.