An 81-year-old man who was wrongfully jailed as a result of mistaken identity must file countercharges and demand compensation for his sufferings, a lawmaker said Tuesday (July 1).

ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio welcomed the release from detention of Prudencio C. Calubid Jr. but lamented that he suffered injustice as a result of recklessness on the part of law enforcers.

“We welcome the release of Prudencio C. Calubid, Jr (“Tatay Pruding”), who was wrongfully detained by the government for six months. His case shows how monetary rewards for so-caled “high value targets” incentive law enforcers to make arrests without “minimum due diligence” (as noted by the court),” said Tinio.

He urged Calubid and his relatives to pursue cases against those who effected his arrest.

“Tatay Pruding may and should file countercharges and seek compensation for the wrongful deprivation of his liberty, especially cruel given his stage in life as a senior citizen,” said Tinio.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jennifer Joy Ong, the Court of Appeals ordered his release from police custody after it granted the writ of habeas corpus petition filed by the family of the octogenarian.

The writ of habeas corpus issued by a court compels the government agency believed to be responsible for the detention or disappearance of a person to produce the body of the subject of the petition.

The CA promulgated the writ on Friday (June 27) as it released a 68-page decision upholding the petitioner’s position on the issue.

Operatives of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested Calubid in Olongapo City in December , 2024 reportedly on the strength of a warrant of arrest released by a trial judge.

The arrest was made notwithstanding protest from the octogenarian and his family who insisted that he was not the man the police were looking for.

The family pointed out that Calubid’s name had a suffix “Jr.” but the documents presented for his arrest did not.

In its decision, the appellate court noted that the arrest was made notwithstanding the fact that the senior citizen had already questioned his apprehension based on the mistaken identity claim, right after he was accosted by the police.

The court is convinced that the Calubid was a victim of mistaken identity.

“Analyn (daughter of Calubid) presented overwhelming documentary evidence to establish the identity of the detained person and subject of the instant Petition as “Prudencio Cebu Calubid Jr.”, along with pertinent details regarding his personal circumstances,’ the court pointed out.

“When the scales of justice are weighed between a citizen who has been deprived of his liberty,d espite asserting and substantiating with evidence that he is not the wanted person, and the State that has all the manpower, resources and institutional machinery to verify information and arrest and detain the right person, the Court would not hesitate to resolutely side with the citizen,” the CA stressed.