The staff of Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen wear keffiyeh scarves as their office leads the flag raising ceremony of the Supreme Court on December 4, 2023. The gesture is often seen as a show of support to the Palestinian people and their struggle against Israeli occupation.
Last Monday, the Supreme Court kicked off its celebration of Human Rights Week from December 4 to 12, 2023, coinciding with the International Human Rights Day which is commemorated on December 10 of every year. Justice Leonen heads the SC’s Committee on Human Rights. In his address, the magistrate said, “Human rights ensure our freedoms.”
Public interest lawyers vowed to
persevere in defending human rights as the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)
holds its two-day national congress starting today in Manila.
Themed “Conquering Challenges in People’s Lawyering: Unifying Our
Ranks to Strengthen the Protection and Advancement of Human Rights in the Face
of Adversity,” the country’s top human rights lawyers said they are not
fazed with the threats they face, even if some of their colleagues have paid
for their advocacy with their very lives.
“We
will win this battle against impunity because we are on the side of truth and
the people,” NUPL chairperson Neri Colmenares said in his speech.
Supreme
Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen in his keynote speech praised the NUPL as
the country’s most passionate human rights defenders even in the face of harassments
and being in the line of fire.
“You do
not only define public interest lawyering, you live it,” Leonen said.
Leonen added
it is time the country recognizes the NUPL’s brand of lawyering and its passion
for justice.
Established in 2007, the NUPL has grown from 89 to around 500 members spread across more than 50 chapters nationwide, taking on the most celebrated human rights cases in more than decade.
Lawyers for the
oppressed
In his
opening remarks, NUPL president Edre Olalia said the NUPL remains committed to
peoples’ lawyering “for the demands and aspirations of the Filipino people,
especially the poor and the oppressed.”
“We are
the lawyers of the exploited, persecuted and marginalized. We are in the legal
forefront in the fight against impunity. We are the ones on the ground as we
fight in the legal trenches and foxholes,” he added.
Olalia
called on his colleagues to close ranks and fight back against “vicious attacks,
weaponization of the law by a blitzkreig of legal attacks.”
The guests
in the event’s opening ceremonies include Concepcion Empeño and Erlinda
Cadapan, mothers of University of the Philippines students Karen and Sherlyn
abducted by retired Philippine Army Major General Jovito Palparan.
Also present
were Raymond Manalo, Celia Veloso and mothers of victims of President Rodrigo
Duterte’s drug war.
In her speech, Veloso said their family could not contain their joy when the NUPL successfully convinced the Supreme Court to allow Mary Jane’s diposition, giving them hope the overseas Filipino worker may still be saved from execution in Indonesia.
Other guests included former Senator Rene Saguisag, Ateneo Law School dean Antonio Laviña and Integrated Bar of the Philippines President Egon Cayosa.
Manila Mayor
Isko Moreno gave the welcome remarks. # (Raymund
B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/tribute.jpg4821000Jola Mamangunhttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngJola Mamangun2019-10-19 15:33:342019-10-19 15:43:28Peoples’ lawyers vow to continue defending human rights ‘alongside the poor and oppressed’