Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police General Nicolas Torre III confirmed on Monday that an 81-year-old man, wrongly imprisoned for six months, is entitled to government compensation under the law.
“Unfortunately, may napagkamalian, but that person can invoke now yung compensation,” Torre said during a press briefing. “Mayroon tayong batas na nagko-compensate sa mga taong wrongfully convicted.”
Torre noted that the amount of compensation will depend on a court’s decision and assured the public that the PNP is currently looking into the arrest’s details. “We will give you more details kapag nakuha namin… We’ll do a close examination,” he said.
The man, identified by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) as Prudencio “Tatay Pruding” Calubid Jr., was detained for allegedly being a top leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). However, rights groups argue that authorities arrested the wrong person.
According to NUPL, the real Prudencio Calubid—a known peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines—has been missing since June 26, 2006, after being abducted along with his wife and two others. “Yesterday marked the 19th year since their enforced disappearance,” the group said.
The human rights lawyers’ group also slammed the system that led to the mistaken arrest, saying, “Bounty-hunting has replaced due process, with public funds being used to underwrite such abuses.”
The Court of Appeals earlier ruled that police failed to thoroughly verify the identity of the man they arrested, pointing out lapses in confirming whether he was truly the Calubid named in the criminal charges and warrants.
