Published in February 2022 by Bayan Metro Manila
Today marks the fifth year after activist Ferdinand Castillo was arrested in Caloocan by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group based on trumped-up charges. His continuing detention reflects the notorious human rights record of the Rodrigo Duterte administration. But despite his incarceration, Castillo remains defiant. We are one with him in fighting for his freedom and the pursuit of justice.
Castillo is an activist who devoted four decades of his life to the struggle for social change. He became an activist during the Marcos dictatorship while studying Mathematics at UP Diliman. He continued his activism after the 1986 People Power by working with peasant organizations in Cagayan Valley. He joined Bayan Manila in the late 1990s and eventually became campaign officer of Bayan Metro Manila. He remained immersed in grassroots organizing despite suffering from rheumatic heart disease, hypertension and gout.
His extensive knowledge on the issues affecting workers, urban poor, and other marginalized sectors in Metro Manila led him to be an active participant in the peace process until he was included as one of the consultants of the National Democratic Front working on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms. He was the first NDF consultant to be arrested when Duterte unilaterally ended the peace talks.
Castillo is still facing trial after five years in jail. We are confident he will walk free like other political prisoners who were also arrested on fabricated evidence. We will not stop opposing Duterte’s crackdown on legitimate dissent until the vicious weaponizing of judicial processes is ended. We will continue to hold accountable all those who conspired and enabled the unjust detention of activists like Castillo.
We challenge election candidates to call for the immediate release of political prisoners. We urge them to study Castillo’s case whose peaceful activism is criminalized under the Duterte government. We are ready to campaign in our communities so that the issues facing political prisoners will be heard by our voters.
We are outraged that a dear kasama like Castillo has already spent half a decade behind bars despite committing no crime other than steadfastly fighting for true democracy and empowerment in the grassroots. We take inspiration from Castillo who never wavered in his commitment to serve the masses despite his imprisonment. We remember how he was always engaging jail visitors to get news and updates from the urban mass movement so that he can share his views and veteran insight. He was consistent in his message that the campaign for the release of political prisoners should be part of the broader struggle for lasting peace and justice in society.
The prolonged pandemic lockdown has made it more difficult for Castillo’s family and friends to learn about his conditions and his thoughts on the political situation. But through brief e-dalaw calls, he was able to express the call of fellow political prisoners about leading the people in rejecting the Marcos-Duterte tyranny.
We hear you Tatay Ferdie. We will defeat the Marcos-Duterte tandem. And we will continue to fight for freedom and justice.