Enforced disappearances are more difficult to handle, said Jose Manuel Diokno, human rights lawyer and chairperson of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), an organization of human rights lawyers formed by his father, the late Senator Jose W. Diokno. FLAG has about 150 members nationwide.

Diokno said, “Mas mahirap pa nga para sa aming mga abogado ang kaso ng disappearances dahil paano mapapatunayan diyan na pulis o militar ang kumuha?” (For us lawyers, it is more difficult to handle cases of disappearances because it is difficult to prove that the military and police were involved.)

Lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno stresses a point during a news conference in defense of press freedom BULATLAT FILE PHOTO

The courts, he said, are not receptive to entertaining such cases. “Sasabihin nila wala namang ebidensya na militar ang kumuha diyan, wala kaming magagawa,” (The courts would say that there is no evidence pointing to the military as perpetrators so we could not do anything.) he said. The Supreme Court has granted writs of habeas corpus on at least three recent petitions and is set to act on three more petitions.  All in all, these petitions involved 11 missing persons. Named as respondents were the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including Major General Jovito Palparan, called a “butcher” by activists. But none of the missing, so far, have been produced by the military.  In the case of the two University of the Philippines (UP) students, namely Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, the AFP denied that the two are in their custody.

Diokno handles the case of theTagaytay 5 who were arrested on suspicion of being New People’s Army guerrillas. He scored the DoJ for not abiding by the decisions of the Supreme Court saying “it only follows decisions that favor the administration.”

“Kahit naglabas na ng desisyon (ang Supreme Court) ayaw pa rin nilang sundin…ang lumalabas kapag may desisyon ang SC na hindi pabor sa kanila hindi nila susundin,” (Even if the Supreme Court has come out with a decision, the DoJ refuses to abide by it.  The DoJ only follows decisions of the Supreme Court that favors the administration.) he said.

“Wala kaming nakikitang problema sa Korte Suprema,nagiging independent naman sila sa paghatol. Yung pag-implement at pagrespeto (ng executive branch ng gobyerno) sa mga desisyon nila ang nawawala,”(We have no problems with the Supreme Court because it shows its independence in its decisions. The problem is in the implementation and respect for its decisions.)  he added.

Deteriorating

“The justice system prior to the assumption of Arroyo into power was already bad, now it is getting worse and will continue to deteriorate in many ways,” said Capulong.

He said that the investigation of crimes, led by the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation, and the work of the DoJ as state prosecuting body, “has reached its lowest point in terms of independence of the judiciary”.

The main reason for this, he said, is the issue of legitimacy of the Arroyo government. “It is a determining factor, even the judiciary has not been spared from the current policy of the government treating all resources as patronage, as means to maintain power for political survival,” said Capulong.

The defense lawyers of the Batasan 6 are contesting the validity of the preliminary investigation conducted by the police based on the original information of rebellion involving 46 individuals.

On June 5, the High Tribunal issued a decision ordering a status quo in the proceedings against the Batasan 6 and six other legal personalities. Two judges at the Makati regional trial court defied the order by pushing through with the hearings on the motion of the DoJ to consolidate the rebellion cases filed against Rep. Crispin Beltran and Lt. Lawrence San Juan before the sala of Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150 to that filed against the other representatives and six other leaders of people’s organizations before the sala of Judge Renato Quilala of Branch 57.   

Saying that Judge Quilala violated the status quo order by transmitting the case for consolidation, the lawyers of the other representatives and leaders of people’s organizations filed a motion to suspend the hearings before Judge Elmo Alameda citing the status-quo order of the Supreme Court.

“The crisis of Arroyo’s weak leadership has already adopted and exceeded the abuses of an undeclared dictatorship in terms of human rights violations; manipulation of the judicial system; and the utter lack of political will to address the political killings and other violations,” said Capulong.

Open targets,

Lawyers providing legal assistance to victims of political persecution had known that they are also open targets.

“Matagal na naming alam na target din kami…we are as vulnerable as the other sectors. Klaro sa amin na ang responsible ay militar, alam namin na hanggang nagtatanggol kami sa karapatang pantao, puwede kaming maging target,” (We have known all along that we are also targets…we are as vulnerable as the other sectors.  It is clear to use that the military is responsible, we know that for as long as we defend human rights, we can become targets.) said Diokno.

Another lawyers’ group, the Counsels for the Defense of Civil Liberties (CODAL), recorded 13 lawyers and 10 judges killed since Arroyo’s installation in 2001.

Capulong said rights lawyers have taken necessary precautions in carrying out their duties, but they should be emboldened to fight back as well. “When under attack, fight back, expose and don’t run away and hide, continue to work and stand up. We know the risks of the work we have taken. Its part of our commitment. And the best way to confront this problem is to expose the killings and harassments, to develop strong links here and abroad,” he said.

Similarly, the Arroyo administration is beginning to experience isolation from the international community due to the unabated killings, just like Marcos. Capulong believes the international community is aware of the plight of human rights workers in the country. “It will only be a matter time before it is weakened from international isolation,” he said.

Capulong said, the prospects of amending the Constitution through the administration-backed charter change initiative may imperil safety-nets on human rights contained in the Bill of Rights.

“The proposed Cha-cha aims to dilute the Bill of Rights,” he said, “I hope they don’t succeed. As far as I know, the proposed removal of nationalist provisions in the constitution in order to open up the country’s natural resources to plunder would result to more violations.” Bulatlat

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