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[LOOK] Supreme Court staff wear keffiyeh

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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.”

(Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)

Farmers angry over dismissal of coco levy graft charge vs. ‘plunderers’

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While chief presidential counsel Juan Ponce Enrile rejoiced, farmers fumed at the Supreme Court (SC) decision dismissing the P840.7 million graft case against those accused of misusing the controversial Coconut Industry Development Fund (CIDF, the coco levy fund).

Reacting to the high court’s decision, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the dismissal of the charges against Enrile and others accused is a great disservice and direct affront to small coconut farmers and their heirs

“Sana naisip din ng Korte Suprema ang kapakanan at kinabukasan ng mga magniniyog at ng kanilang mga tagapagmana na lampas limang dekada nang naghihintay na maibalik sa kanila at mapakinabangan man lang nila ang pondo ng coco levy. Naghihintay pa rin ang mga magniniyog na maibalik sa kanila ang coco levy,” the KMP said.

(The SC should have thought about the welfare and future of the coconut farmers and their heirs who have waited for more than five decades for their monies to be given back to them.)

In finally issuing a decision on the 33-year old case, the SC ordered the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to dismiss the charges against Enrile as there had been a clear violation of his right to speedy disposition of cases.

Other respondents in the graft case were Jose C. Concepcion, Rolando Dela Cuesta, Narciso M. Pineda, and Danilo S. Ursua.

The same ruling also ordered the dismissal of the graft case against Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., Jose Eleazar Jr., Maria Clara Lobregat, and Augusto Orosa “due to their supervening deaths.”

In an interview by GMA Integrated News, Enrile thanked the high court for its decision, saying there had been no hearings conducted.

“It was not a case of speedy trial; it was already a case of no trial,” he said in Filipino.

Enrile also justified their use of billions of pesos from the coco levy fund, explaining the money funded the establishment of the United Coconut Planters Fund, bought San Miguel Corporation shares, bought coconut oil mills as spent on interventions to solve the scarcity of coconut oil products during the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. presidency.

The KMP however said that all Enrile and his co-accused did was extort the fund from small coconut farmers and plundered for their personal interests.

“[The] coco levy fund scam will be forever regarded as the scam of the century perpetrated by the Marcoses and their cronies,” the KMP said.

The farmers’ group added that the dismissal of graft charges against Enrile and others have victimized the farmers all over again.

“Who will afford them (small coconut farmers) the same consideration that the SC granted Enrile et. al. All administrations post-Marcos Sr. failed to return the coco levy fund to its rightful owners — the coconut farmers and their heirs,” KMP said.

The coco levy fund was sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government under the Corazon Aquino government that filed the graft charges against Enrile and others in February 1990.

The fund has since grown and is estimated to be worth P75 billion pesos. The Rodrigo Duterte administration however transformed the fund into a privatized investment account that the KMP said poor coconut farmers cannot control, manage, nor take benefit from. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

If BBM wins, ‘the right of the Filipino people to recover P203 billion in estate tax will be gone forever’

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In an online media forum last January 13 by 1Sambayan about the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family, former Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that if Bongbong Marcos (BBM) wins the presidential elections 2022, the recovery of more than P328 billion worth of the ill-gotten wealth and unpaid taxes of his family may go in vain.

The ill-gotten wealth also includes more than P125 billion worth of assets of the Marcoses.

“That’s really the problem because if Bongbong Marcos becomes president, I do not expect the P125 billion to be recovered, anymore. The first thing he’ll do, he’ll probably abolish the [Presidential Commission on Good Government] PCGG,” Carpio stated.

The PCGG was created by the Executive Order No. 1, which primary task is to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.

Carpio also added a “bigger problem” if BBM wins the elections, concerning his unsettled estate tax of P203 billion.

“He’s the administrator of the estate; he has been ordered by the court to pay; he refuses to pay up to now, and nobody seems to hold him to account for that,” Carpio explained.

Carpio concluded his speech by saying that the issue of the ill-gotten wealth and unpaid taxes of BBM and his family is just one of many reasons why BBM should not be elected as president of the country.

“There’s a bigger problem: he (Bongbong Marcos) owes the government P203 billion for the estate tax. If he becomes president, goodbye na ‘yan. If you do not collect that within five years—you do not send even a demand letter that prescribes—hindi mo na makolekta ‘yan. So he has six years. Hindi s’ya magpapadala ng collection letter against himself. So [the] right of the Filipino people to recover P203 billion in estate tax will be gone forever.” — Hon. Antonio Carpio, Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice

Media orgs join mounting calls for profane lawyer’s disbarment

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The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said it joins the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) and several others in condemning lawyer Larry Gadon’s verbal assault on journalist Raissa Robles on social media as well as mounting calls for his disbarment.

“We urge the Supreme Court and Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to act on them and on this recent incident,” the NUJP in a statement said.

The group said it joins with FOCAP’s and other calls to “discipline this wayward member of the bar of the boorishness and clearly unbecoming conduct. It is truly unfortunate that social media sites could be wantonly used as a platform to attack independent journalists in this gruesome manner.”

FOCAP earlier described Gadon’s online rant against Robles as “violent and aggressive verbal assault” as well as “atrocious and beastly behavior.”

“The profanity, expletives and sexist insults against Robles violate Philippine law on public decency, gender respect and the core principles of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)/It was utterly despicable, and reflective of the belligerent impunity independent and courageous Filipino journalists face for doing their constitutionally protected work in the country,” FOCAP said.

Robles is the Philippine correspondent for the South China Morning Post.

Gadon, a senatorial aspirant and backer of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., was furious over Robles’ remarks on social media platform Twitter that the failure of the son of the late Philippine dictator to file income tax returns in the past raises the question of whether he paid the taxes at all.

“Like all Filipinos, Gadon has the right to challenge statements from journalists in the interest of public discourse, but never with such venom and malice that openly flout civility, respect and human rights which are protected by the country’s laws,” FOCAP said.

The media group said Gadon’s tirade is concerning because of his large following on social media who may be led to believe that using violent, misogynistic and sexist language is acceptable just because it is done online.

“We are concerned as well because online harassment can lead to or encourage harassment offline,” it said.

“This is not the first time Gadon has displayed the kind of behavior and speech that is in every sense an attack not only on Raissa and other journalists but all decent, God-fearing and law-abiding Filipinos,” the group added.

The NUJP said that, according to reports, Gadon already facing at least one disbarment complaint for maliciously alleging former President Benigno Aquino died of HIV.

Gabriela Women’s Party on Saturday said Gadon’s speech was full of profanities and misogynistic remarks and was a dangerous incitement of hate and violence toward Robles in a lame attempt to dispute the reportage on Marcos Jr.’s failure to file income tax returns.””We support calls for the disbarment of Attorney Gadon as we should no longer tolerate such barbaric behavior that tarnishes the legal profession. The rabid supporter of the Marcoses must be taught a harsh lesson for all his grossly inappropriate verbal assaults,” the group added.

Rights group Karapatan has also condemned Gadon’s “barrage of violent and misogynistic insults” against Robles that “portray the increasingly hostile and violent online environment threatening press freedom in all fronts in the country.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

KODAO ASKS: Katanggap-tanggap ba ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema sa mga petisyon kontra Terror Law?

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Sa bisperas ng Pandaigdigang Araw para sa Karapatang Pantao, naglabas ng desisyon ang Korte Suprema kaugnay sa ligalidad ng Anti-Terrorism Act.

Nagbigay ng saloobin ang ilang mga grupong nagpetisyon kontra dito kung saan sinabi ng Korte na iligal ang ilang probisyon nito subalit konstitusyunal ang naturang batas.

Groups urge SC to act on attacks against rights lawyers and clients

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Human rights and civil society organizations petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to take urgent action against threats, red-tagging and killings of judges and lawyers as well as their clients.

In a letter to the SC Tuesday, May 18, Karapatan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance, Kilusang Mayo Uno, and the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advance of Government Employees said the attacks against court officers continue despite clear condemnation by the High Court last March 23.

Addressed to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the petition said the “attacks against human rights lawyers violate the basic principle that lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions.”

The groups said that attacks against the lawyers and judges deprive them of effective access to legal services and adequate protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The letter reminded the Court that there have been 147 reported attacks against court officers in recent years.

Eighty-four or 57% of the victims are human rights lawyers affiliated with the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), Public Interest Law Center, Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao and the Free Legal Assistance Group, the petition said.

In its March 23 statement, the SC acknowledged that members of the bar and the bench have been attacked and asked the lower court to submit reports on the matter.

The SC statement also came after NUPL member Angelo Karlo Guillen was stabbed with a screw driver on his lower left temple and back by two unidentified assailants in Iloilo City.

“The court condemns in the strongest sense every instance where a lawyer is threatened or killed, and where a judge is threatened and unfairly labeled. We do not and will not tolerate such acts that only perverse justice, defeat the rule of law, undermine the most basic of constitutional principles, and speculate on the worth of human lives,” the SC said.


‘State sponsored’

In their submission, the signatories also asked the Court look into the attacks suffered by the lawyers’ clients “and to understand the overarching government policies that cause them.”

The signatories asserted that the lawyers who represent activists, human rights defenders and ordinary people also become targets of the government’s counterinsurgency drive.

“An urgent and decisive action from the Supreme Court is a matter of life and death for activists and human rights defenders especially now when we are being increasingly targeted in the government’s counterinsurgency and counterterror campaign for our work and causes,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, one of the signatories, said.

“Despite the Supreme Court en banc’s much-needed statement two months ago, we are concerned that the attacks have only continued, if not worsened to even more alarming forms.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Protesta inilunsad sa pagsisimula ng oral arguments kontra terror law

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Nagsama-sama ang iba’t-ibang grupo na tutol sa RA 11479 o ang Anti-Terrorism Act sa Padre Faura sa Maynila ilang oras bago simulan ang oral arguments nito sa Korte Suprema, Pebrero 2.

Kaugnay ito sa 37 petisyon kontra sa nasabing batas na ayon sa mga aktibista ang pinakamaraming petisyon sa kasaysaysan ng mga batas sa Pilipinas.

Mariin nilang tinututulan ang terror law at sinabi na malaking banta ito sa pagpapahayag ng mamamayan laluna sa paglaban ngayon sa tiraniya.

Pahayag ng Migrante International kaugnay sa kaso ni Mary Jane Veloso

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Nagbigay-pahayag si Joanna Concepcion, tagapangulo ng Migrante International kaugnay sa naging pinal na desisyon ng Korte Suprema na payagang makapagbigay testimonya si Mary Jane Veloso sa pamamagitan ng written deposition.

Tuluyang ibinasura ng Korte Suprema noong Agosto 15 ang apela ng mga rekruter ni Veloso na sina Ma. Cristina Sergio at Julius Lacanilao. Ito ay kaugnay sa kasong illegal recruitment, human trafficking at estafa.

Si Veloso ay kasalukuyang pa ring nakakulong sa Indonesia simula 2010 dahil sa kasong ilegal na droga.

‘Mabigat sa dibdib ko’

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“Mabigat sa dibdib ko, nakita ko kasi ang anak ko. Kaya nananawagan po ako sa Supreme Court. Ibaba niyo po ang desisyon para makasama na niya ang anak niya.” — Marites Asis, Ina ng bilanggong pulitikal na si Reina Mae Nasino

Mother appeals to SC to act on petition to free at-risk political prisoner and baby

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Political prisoner Reina Mae Nasino’s mother Marites De Asis appealed to the Supreme Court to act on the petition to release the at-risk prisoner and her newly-born baby during the coronavirus pandemic.

Nasino delivered her first born baby last July 1 in a hospital and was sent back to jail the following day.

De Asis reminded the High Court that it has been three months since she filed the petition for the liberty of her daughter.

The group Families and Friends of Political Prisoners (KAPATID) tied blue ribbons in front of the Supreme Court along Padre Faura Street in Manila last July 7 to demand for Nacino’s and her baby as well as 22 others political prisoners they said are vulnerable to infection with the virus.