FOR SAFETY | Green activists who defied NTF-ELCAC seek protection against military, officials

September 29, 2023 , 12:56 PM

By Beatrice Puente

(September 29, 2023) – The legal counsel of the two environmental activists who were abducted by the military filed a plea to the Supreme Court to seek protection over concerns that security forces will continue targeting them following their recent ordeal.

In its petition for the issuance of writs of amparo and habeas data, the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) said the recent experience of Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano puts them at risk because they drew “the ire of several members of government offices” for their revelation.

“Amparo will afford some measure of protection and security to petitioners through the interim reliefs the rule provides,” read the petition. “The issuance of such writ will help enable them to proceed with their normal young lives and be with their loved ones free from any threats of retaliation from the authorities.”

FLAG also noted that the writ of habeas data would help ensure that the personal information of Castro and Tamano won’t be compromised.

Last September 20, National Security Council assistant director general Jonathan Malaya warned that they will “slowly expose all information” they have on Castro and Tamano, further noting that the two environmental activists may face perjury for backtracking on their affidavits.

Castro and Tamano maintained that the statements contained therein were made under duress, thereby making them void.

“Petitioners are concerned with the genuineness of the alleged information that respondents have threatened to release and the manner by which this alleged information may have been obtained,” added the petition. “These alleged information may consist sensitive personal information of petitioners.”

Apart from Malaya, the respondents in the petition include members of the 70th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police in Bataan, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). All others acting under their orders are also broadly covered.

Introduced in 2007, the writs of amparo and habeas data seek to supplement the writ of habeas corpus, a remedy sought in cases of illegal detention.

Castro and Tamano disappeared for more than two weeks before they were presented at a press conference of the NTF-ELCAC last September 19. They, however, denied the narrative being peddled by the authorities that they surrendered and instead revealed that they were abducted by military forces.

After the exposé, Castro and Tamano were transferred to the custody of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). They were subsequently released to their families.

In a statement last week, the CHR said its investigation will continue because of the “complexity of the issue at hand.”

“(The) CHR is approaching this case objectively and independently, and commits to exhaust all the applicable and necessary mandate of the commission in seeking the truth and helping serve the ends of justice, as well as the protection of human rights,” said the CHR.

(PM)

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