THE Department of National Defense (DND) said on Friday, May 31, 2019, that they will comply with the writ of amparo and habeas data issued by the Supreme Court in favor of rights groups in the country.
But the department insists in a statement that there is no threat against the three groups, namely Karapatan Alliance Philippines, Inc., Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Inc. (RMP), and General Assembly of Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action, Inc. (Gabriela).
“The DND and its bureaus fully adhere to the rule of law, and we will address Karapatan and Gabriela following the legal process,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
“There is certainly no threat to their members’ lives, liberty, and security coming from the Defense and military establishments, and we will comply with the writ of habeas data as ordered by the court,” he added.
Andolong said they were confident that the allegations made by the three groups to support their petition for a writ of amparo and habeas data will be proven false before the courts.
The Supreme Court issued on May 30, 2019 a writ of amparo and habeas data in favor of Karapatan, RMP and Gabriela.
The petition was referred to the Court of Appeals (CA) which was ordered to conduct hearing on the petition on or before June 18.
The petition for a writ of amparo is a “remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee or of a private individual or entity.”
The habeas data, on the other hand, “is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life liberty and security is violated.”
The three organizations filed petitions for a writ of amparo and habeas data on May 6, 2019, citing incidents of threats, red-tagging and attacks against members and officers.
They wanted the military and the police to destroy all the files and information gathered about them.
According to Karapatan, 58 human rights workers of Karapatan fell victims to extrajudicial killings, seven of whom were killed under the Duterte regime.
Among the respondents were President Rodrigo Duterte, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., Brigadier General Fernando Trinidad, Major General Erwin Neri, Major General Antonio Parlade Jr., Lieutenant General Macairog Sabiniano Alberto, National Intelligence Coordinating Council (NICA) Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo, NICA Deputy Director General Vicente Agdamag, Police Senior Superintendent Omega Jireh Fidel, and Undersecretaries Joel Egco, Severo Catura, and Lorraine Marie Badoy.
For his part, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said the petitioners have nothing to rejoice about as the court’s decision “which they claim was in favor of them is not at all a decision on the merits of the case.”
“There is absolutely no basis in that triumphant-sounding declaration by Cristina Palabay of Karapatan that, ‘This favorable decision by the Supreme Court ... has seen the merit of our petition, and we see this as an acknowledgment of the perilous environment that human rights defenders work in...’ She is misleading the public,” he said.
“What was issued was not a Temporary Protection Order favoring the petitioners. The Supreme Court’s resolution is a procedure of the writs and an exercise of its prerogatives. As a matter of fact, the SC referred the petition to the Court of Appeals to give the respondents the opportunity to be heard and adduce evidence,” he added.
Arevalo said AFP Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal Jr. and all the impleaded Officers of the AFP will be filing their answer in due time where they will “be citing the bare truth refuting all the petitioners’ allegations and imputations.” (SunStar Philippines)