'Abadilla 5' kin urge SC to review case
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 01/05/2009 12:54 PM
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | 
Share your views
Relatives of five men convicted for the 1996 murder of then Ilocos Norte Vice Gov. Rolando Abadilla urged the Supreme Court on Monday to speed up its review of the case.
In a letter to Chief Justice Reynato Puno, relatives of Leonido Lumanog and Augusto Santos -- both members of the so-called "Abadilla 5" -- urged the Supreme Court to fast-track its review of the case and bring justice to the five men.
They said that the men namely Lumanog, Santos, SPO2 Cesar Fortuna, Rameses de Jesus and Joel de Jesus left wives and children after being incarcerated for the pat 13 years.
The relatives said the high tribunal should review the case immediately out of humanitarian concern for the five men who are now falling ill while in prison.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court earlier found the "Abadilla 5" guilty of the murder and sentenced them to death. An appellate court ruling affirmed the QCRTC's findings but reduced the sentence of the five men to life in prison without parole.
The communist hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade had earlier said it killed Abadilla as “part of its resolve to render revolutionary justice to tens of thousands of people who were victimized by martial rule.”
