Freshman Asks For Release of Aunt Held by Marcos

Eric A. San Juan '86 in circulating an open letter among academic notables to try to free his aunt, Mike Aguilar, a prominent post and teacher who has been held as a political prisoner for the past two months by Philippine President Ferdimand Marcos.

Aguilar was arrested for alleged conversion on August 6, according to her relatives in the United States, Charges were dismissed the next week, but she is still being held under a decree that allows the military to jail suspected subversives for a period determined by the President, the relatives say in the page-long open letter.

Officials at the Philippine embassy in Washington refused comment Friday.

San Juan, a Thayer resident, and his family have mailed two dozen letters to academics, poets, politicians, and other public figures whom they felt would be sympathetic.

None of the recipients has yet refused to sign on, San Juan said yesterday. "The response shows that people are concerned about what is going on in the Philippines, and because of that my aunt's life is a little bit safer," he added.

Among those who have signed the open letter are Professor of History John Womack Jr. '59, Professor of Biology Ruth Hubbard, and Higgins Professor of Biology Emeritus George Wald, and Professor of Divinity Harvey G. Cox Jr.

Using its own resources, the San Juan's family is also seeking Aguilar's release through petitioning.

The ruckus the family raises may actually change' the Philippine government's policies, according to specialists in the field.

"Marcos is very sensitive to U.S. public opinion," said Daniel R. Sherman of a group called Friends of the Filipino People. In addition, Marcos's government receives large amounts of U.S. aid.

Aguilar, a former teacher at the University of the Philippines and a journalist, is a prominent Philippine poet and anti-Marcos activist.

"Since 1972, there have been 70,000 political prisoners [in the Phillipines]. Currently 3000 are in jail," said San Juan. "But when your family member is taken, it's a different story.