SC junks army, police challenge vs. environmental advocates’ protective writs

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Supreme Court has denied the motion filed by military and police personnel challenging the writ of amparo, a legal remedy to protect individuals against threats, granted to two environmental advocates who alleged the military abducted them in 2023. 

In a 15-page resolution promulgated May 6 and publicized Wednesday, Dec. 10, the Supreme Court en banc denied the very urgent omnibus motion filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for lack of merit.

The high court upheld the writs of amparo and habeas data, as well as the temporary protection order sought by activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, which were issued in an October 2023 decision.

The OSG represented personnel from the 70th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya.

“It cannot be said that public respondents were deprived of due process when the court issued the writs upon a plain reading of the petition without further requiring them to file their comments thereon,” read the resolution penned by SC Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando.

“The court’s usage of substantial evidence as the level of proof in granting the writs did not violate the public respondents’ rights to due process,” according to the resolution.

In a briefer, the high court also said the activists’ detailed and convincing account of abduction and coercion to sign false affidavits went beyond the minimum requirement and amounted to substantial evidence. 

In September 2023, Castro and Tamano were reported to have disappeared in Orion, Bataan, during volunteering activities for affected communities along Manila Bay.

Three weeks later, they alleged they were abducted in a press conference organized by the NTF-ELCAC, where authorities were set to present the two as rebels.

In 2024, the Court of Appeals denied the environmental advocates the privileges of the writs of amparo and habeas data. Castro and Tamano appealed the ruling.

“…[T]he Court requires the public respondents to file a comment on the Petition for Review on Certiorari for a judicious and complete disposition of the petitioners’ appeal,” the SC said.