‘RED-TAGGING’ | Supreme Court issues writ of amparo to protect two ‘red-tagged’ UCCP pastors, lay leader

December 16, 2022 , 08:07 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(December 16, 2022) – The high court has granted a writ of amparo and protection to two United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) pastors and a lay leader, who were seeking help after the military tagged them as supporters of Maoist-led rebels.

In a resolution dated December 6, the Supreme Court (SC) granted the writ of amparo and temporary protection as requested by Rev. Edwin Egar, Rev. Julieta Egar, and Ronald Malabanan Ramos in a petition last month.

The court also ordered military chief Lieutenant General Bartolome Vicente Bacarro, Army commanding general Romeo Brawner Jr., and a number of military officials and officers under the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division and 59th Infantry Battalion (IB) to make a verified return of the writ and a comment within 20 days of receiving the resolution.

The return must contain a defense proving that they had not allegedly violated or threatened the lives of the petitioners, the steps taken to determine the persons responsible for the threat against them, and other relevant information.

Under the temporary protection order, the respondent military officials were prohibited from going within a 1-kilometer radius near the pastors and lay leader, as well as their immediate families.

In the petition filed before the high court last month, Edwin Egar and Ramos said security forces from the 59th IB in Quezon and Batangas had approached them, accusing them of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and pressuring them to “surrender.” Julieta Egar also said she was being tailed.

Lawyer Gilbert Andres, executive director of CenterLaw which served as counsel for the Egar couple and Ramos, welcomed the issuance of the writ of amparo, noting that “red-tagging” has been one of the main human rights problems in the country.

“The writ of amparo issued and the TPO granted by the SC for Rev. Edwin and Rev. Julieta Egar and for Mr. Ramos should be sobering reminders to Philippine State forces to respect the right to life, liberty, and security of our petitioners,” Andres said in a statement.

Human rights groups have expressed grave concerns on the practice of accusing government critics and political opponents of participation in Communist rebellion, an act called “red-tagging,” warning that this exposes the target to risks of attacks and even killings.

Early this year, the SC also granted writs of amparo in two separate occasions to four left-wing activists who went missing this year, two of whom were allegedly abducted by security forces and have not surfaced since.

(MM)

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