House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Monday, Dec. 21 strongly endorsed the grant of bail to convicts who have reached their twilight years or those who have become sickly while serving their sentence.
Zarate aired the proposal in reaction to the recent ruling of the Supreme Court to grant bail to Camilo Sabio, former chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
Sabio, who also served as secretary general of the House of Representatives, was ordered released from prison by the High Court that cited humanitarian reasons for the ruling.
Before the SC issued the ruling, Zarate and his Bayan Muna colleagues filed House Bill 10535 or An Act Providing for the Inclusion of Fragile Health and/or Advanced Age as Grounds for the Release on Recognizance of an Accused, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act 10389 or the 'Recognizance Act of 2021.
Sabio had been found guilty by the Sandiganbayan of graft in 2019 and was arrested in 2020. He was then 84 years old.
Sabio was serving out a six to ten years prison term when ordered released by the High Tribunal. He was also perpetually barred from holding any public office.
Zarate said the SC ruling that granted freedom to a convicted old and sickly person “should now be made a new additional and humanitarian ground applicable for the release of deserving prisoners.” "In fact this should set as a precedent for the release especially for those not yet convicted but are still detained due to trumped up charges and whose cases are still being tried in court," the opposition lawmaker said.
"This ruling should immediately be made applicable to all prisoners under similar situation so as to prevent a repeat of what happened to farmer Antonio Molina, a sick and elderly political prisoner who died of cancer inside a Palawan prison last November," noted Zarate.
The Bayan Muna lawmaker stated: "While the convicted Marcoses continue to flaunt their "untouchability", an elderly, sickly, poor farmer died because of trumped-up charges and the skewed justice system.” He added that Molina, known as Tatay Tonyo, was 66 when he died.
Tatay Tonyo, Zarate said, was "unjustly arrested and jailed in 2019. Despite his advanced age and serious sickness, a local court in Palawan unjustly denied his plea for release on bail or recognizance, until his death in jail." "The SC Sabio ruling should stop the double standard in the release of prisoners," said the Davao-based solon.