The elderly aircon technician mistaken as a long-missing New People’s Army (NPA) fighter and arrested by the police last December had been ordered released, an officer of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) announced.
The 16th Division of the Court of Appeals granted the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in favor of Prudencio Cebu Calubid, Jr., NUPL president Ephraim Cortez said in a Facebook post this Friday.
Calubid Jr., namesake of missing NPA member and National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Prudencio Calubid, was arrested at his home in Olongapo City by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group then headed by now Philippine National Police chief Nicolas Torre III.
Torre himself announced the arrest last December 7, saying the 81-year old was the subject of a P7.8 million reward for his arrest.
Torre further claimed that the arrested person had been in hiding for 18 years until his so-called capture following a month-long surveillance.
READ: Reds: Subject in Olongapo ‘arrest’ not Calubid
Calubid Jr.’s children immediately belied the police claims, saying their father had been a retired airport technician at the former US naval base in Subic, Zambales and had been an Olongapo resident in the last 50 years.
The children said their father had been arrested by the police for the sole purpose of claiming the bounty.
READ: Elderly’s arrest because of PNP’s bounty culture, children say
His namesake meanwhile was reported abducted by suspected military personnel with his wife Celina Palma and companions Ariel Beloy, Antonio Lacno and his niece Gloria Soco in 2006 at the boundary of Quezon and Camarines Norte provinces.
Calubid Jr.’s petition for the Writ of Habeas Corpus was submitted by a team of NUPL lawyers that included Julian F. Oliva, Jr., Josalee Deinla, Kathy Panguban, Julianne Agpalo, Ma. Sol Taule and Arman Hernando. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
