RIGHTS groups have assailed the government for its treatment of two “abducted” environmental activists, Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, after the Court of Appeals’ (CA) former Special 8th Division dismissed the petitions for writs of amparo and habeas data filed against state security forces recently.
“The decision by the Court of Appeals denying them of the court’s protection is very concerning. This will definitely affect communities who are facing serious human rights issues, particularly the advocates and defenders who support them,” Carlos Conde, senior researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch, told Sunstar Philippines.
“Instead of a ruling that would have categorically stated that state forces can’t take short cuts, can’t disregard due process, and can’t just abduct people without consequence, the Court of Appeals basically ruled that committing these violations is okay – just don’t be identified while you do it!” Conde added.
The CA, in a 55-page decision dated August 2 but was only reported by the media on August 12, said the two young environmental workers failed to establish their claims by substantial evidence.
“It is preposterous, given the facts of the case, among them that military officials themselves have publicly acknowledged that they had custody of the two defenders, and also that the court itself acknowledged that the two had, in fact, been abducted and held for 17 days,” Conde said.
According to Conde, “by refusing to take the government to account for its actions, the Court of Appeals gave the military and other government agencies, particularly the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), a free pass.”
“This can only worsen impunity in the Philippines,” Conde added.
In legal parlance, 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 writ shall cover extralegal killings and enforced disappearances.
The writ of habeas data is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Philippine-based rights group Karapatan, maintained that the CA decision also “disregarded the basic rights” of Castro, 21, and Tamano, 22.
“We are appalled and we are indignant for Jonila and Jhed, and all victims of enforced disappearance and fake or forced surrenders,” Palabay said in a statement.
“This decision is yet another proof that the climate of impunity persists under the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration, with the insufficiency, inadequacy or failure of domestic redress mechanisms to render justice for victims of enforced disappearance and other human rights violations,” Palabay added.
‘Uphold the rule of law’
Meanwhile, National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said that Karapatan and the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) should adhere to the rule of law.
"I wish to remind Karapatan and especially the NUPL, as agents of the court, that they should at all times uphold the rule of law. Just because you did not get the result you want from the judiciary does not give you the license to say that the court's decision is proof of a ‘climate of impunity under the Marcos Administration’ or that it ‘provides further ground for transgressions,’” said Malaya in a report from state-run Philippine News Agency on August 14.
“They may disagree but they should render respect at all times," Malaya added.
Castro and Tamano, who are known as vocal critics of environmental destructions in the country, particularly the land reclamation projects in Manila Bay, were forcibly taken by four armed and masked men onboard a sport utility vehicle on September 2, 2023, while they were on a bus stop in Orion town of Bataan province, some 163 kilometers away from Manila.
After 17 days of their disappearance, the NTF-Elcac, a state-funded body formed in December 2018 to bring peace to conflict areas affected by the country’s five-decade-old Maoist-inspired communist insurgency, presented Castro and Tamano to the public, identifying them as surrenderees of the communist New People’s Army.
However, during their press conference, Castro and Tamano used the occasion to air their grievances.
The two environmental workers said they endured interrogations and were subjected to death threats during their 17-day custody.
The military filed a grave oral defamation case, which carries a maximum punishment of 6-month jail term, against the two on January 29, 2024.
On February 21, 2024, the duo posted P18,000 bail for their temporary liberty.
On August 12, 2024, Castro and Tamano, through their lawyers, filed a motion for reconsideration to the CA, and expressed readiness to go to the Supreme Court if decision on their motion of reconsideration is not favorable.
According to London-based Global Witness, an international non-governmental organization that pioneered in documenting the links between natural resources, conflict and corruption since 1993, the catholic-majority Philippines “has consistently ranked as the worst place in Asia for land and environmental defenders, with 281 people killed since 2012.”
“The criminalization of defenders and rights advocates is widespread, with ‘red-tagging’ - the government practice of accusing activists of communist insurgency – commonly used to silence critics and communities,” the Global Witness said in its 2022 report. (Ronald O. Reyes/SunStar Philippines)