'Sekyu' jailed, tortured as 'rebel leader' says many more held on mistaken identity-InterAksyon.com

'Sekyu' jailed, tortured as 'rebel leader' says many more held on mistaken identity
By: Patricia B. Aquino, InterAksyon.com
September 3, 2013

MANILA, Philippines. "Okay." This is how Rolly Mira Panesa, the security guard mistaken for a ranking officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and detained for almost 11 months at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, is doing three days after his release on Friday night.

Yet "okay" is woefully inadequate a description for someone who said he was repeatedly tortured during detention, and whose photo--face badly bruised and swollen--has become the latest indictment of human rights observance in the country. Clad in a white polo shirt and pants when he faced the media on Monday afternoon, Panesa seemed meek, almost.

“I am thankful for my freedom,” he said, recalling how a meal of pizza and pancit palabok awaited him at the office of human rights group Karapatan when he was released. Karapatan had been providing him support since he was detained.

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