Tuesday, January 10, 2012

SALAMAT

For the very few followers of Mars S. Marata Online, I ask for an apology for my two-year absence from our online exchanges of opinions and news. I was imprisoned from Dec. 11, 2009 to Dec 2, 2011 for a very serious criminal offense related to my alleged involvement in a military action conducted by the NPA against government soldiers sometime in 2005.

Nine days before I marked my second year at Misamis Occidental Provincial Reformatory Jail in Oroquieta City, Acting Judge Bernadette Encinareal of RTC-Calamaba Misamis Occidental rendered a decision on our counsel's Demurer to Evidence, ordering my release from detention and that of 8 others who were similarly charged.

With this attempt to get online again through this blog, let me thank you for your prayers, visits, presents and encouragements that enabled me to withstand the pressures of court hearings, undesirable prison condition and any other challenges related to being locked up in jail.

To my family who never failed to visit me weekly, my classmates, schoolmates, my friends in the church, the academe, the legal community and the press, thank you.

Special thanks to Atty. Julius Chiong, my counsel for his brilliance and skill in and dedication to his craft. He defended us well despite our meager pay. May your tribe increase!