The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) vehemently condemns the arrest on trumped-up charges of Felixberto Consad, member of progressive transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON), on August 14 in Sogod, Southern Leyte.

Consad’s arrest highlights the continuity of the human rights situation in the country from the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte to that of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It is connected with the harassment experienced his wife, Rosanilla “Teacher Lai” Consad, a member of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), who was also arrested and imprisoned in March 2021.

The Duterte regime’s political persecution of labor activists persists under the Marcos Jr regime. Trumped-up charges filed under Duterte are being used to arrest and imprison activists under Marcos Jr. The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which was created by Duterte and is responsible for manufacturing these charges, remains operational under Marcos Jr.

Consad’s arrest brings the number of political prisoners from the labor movement to 20. Most political prisoners were arrested under the Duterte regime but the Marcos Jr regime refuses to lift a finger to junk the trumped-up charges against them and free them from detention.

Consad and his family are victims of injustice many times over. He and his family suffered from harassment, his wife was arrested on trumped-up charges, and he was forced to leave his hometown, Butuan City in Agusan del Norte province, to avoid harassment. At age 61, he is already a senior citizen who should be enjoying his life, rather than fighting persecution and being imprisoned.

We call on the country’s courts to speed up their handling of the cases faced by Consad and all political prisoners. These prisoners face fabricated charges and planted evidence similar to those that have been rejected by many of the country’s courts. Most of them have been imprisoned for years and have been suffering from this injustice.

More importantly, we call on the Marcos Jr government to work for the junking of fabricated charges filed against labor activists and political prisoners. It should abolish the NTF-ELCAC and hold its leaders accountable for the human rights violations that the agency has committed. Its professions of adherence to human rights and democracy will continue to ring hollow if it refuses to heed these legitimate demands.