Political prisoner freed after 32 years in prison: Karapatan

April 25, 2017

A man convicted for multiple murder and double frustrated and whose name was included by the National Democratic Front among political prisoners to be released was freed on April 19. Human rights group Karapatan said Jose Ceriales, 54, was released after 32 years in jail. He was arrested  on May 3, 1985 in Manjuyod, Negros Oriental when he was only 22 years old. Two convicted political prisoners from the Davao Penal Colony, Miguel Panhay and Gerald Robles, were released on March 18, 2017 and March 31, 2017, respectively. Like Ceriales, Panhay and Robles were freed after serving their sentences. Panhay and Robles both spent 11 years in prison. With the release of Ceriales, Panhay, and Robles, and taking into account newly arrested political prisoners, the number of political prisoners as of April 19, 2017 is 400, Karapatan said. DMS