Lawyer, clients seek SC help over Red-tagging
BACOLOD CITY—A group of development workers in Negros Occidental and their legal counsel elevated their plea for safety to the Supreme Court on Thursday amid alleged threats, harassment, and intimidation by police officers and soldiers.
They also alleged a systematic pattern of Red-tagging and surveillance.
Lawyer Rey Gorgonio, chair of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) in Negros, and three members of Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG) are seeking the issuance of a temporary protection order (TPO) against top military and police officials, alongside the issuance of writs of amparo and habeas data.
The petitioners, which include PDG members Joselito Macapobre, Analyn Mirano and Ma. Anabelle Ilustrisimo, cited a series of escalating threats, including an abduction attempt in Candoni, Negros Occidental, earlier this year.
Rights violation
They said their fundamental rights to life, liberty and security were being systematically violated by being “maliciously labeled” as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) solely due to their human rights advocacy and community work.
The petition specifically alleged that Macapobre was subjected to abduction and intimidation—acts intended to suppress his work as a community organizer and stifle the exercise of his constitutional rights.
Macapobre, a fisher and PDG community organizer, said that on Jan. 17, he was abducted along the national highway in Candoni. He said he narrowly escaped death by pushing his captors and sliding down a ravine.
Macapobre recounted that he would later receive digital threats from an operative offering him money to become a military informant while warning that he and his lawyer would be “silenced” if they don’t cooperate.
According to Gorgonio, who took over as counsel for PDG following the 2018 murder of lawyer Benjamin Ramos, he has been subjected to a systematic campaign of Red-tagging and surveillance by the Army’s 15th Infantry Battalion and the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID).
Gorgonio has been receiving threats, including being warned that he would be “silenced” for being “too brave.”
Warning
He was also labeled as “counsel for the CPP-NPA” due to his defense of political prisoners and his legal support for PDG and others opposing a P2-billion oil palm plantation project in Candoni.
The petition names several high-ranking military and police officials as respondents, among them Maj. Gen. Michael Samson, 3ID commander, and Brig. Gen. Ted Dumosmog of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade.
But Samson and Dumosmog said they were not aware of the petition as they had not received copies yet.
Dumosmog said he does not know where the alleged threats received by the petitioners came from.
Some 24 international legal and human rights groups voiced their support for Gorgonio and the communities he is serving.
In a joint statement, they said the threats against them “create a chilling effect, deterring other lawyers from taking up cases that are vital to ensure human rights and access to justice for all in the Philippines.” —WITH REPORTS FROM ANDREA GREGORIO AND MARY JOY SALCEDO
