SC grants temporary protection for red-tagged UCCP leaders and families

FILE PHOTO: The Supreme Court building on Padre Faura Street in Manila. CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a writ of amparo and a temporary protection order in favor of two pastors and a lay leader of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and their families.

In a resolution made public Friday, the SC “grant the temporary protection order prohibiting respondents from going within a radius of one kilometer of petitioners and their immediate families.”

Last month, UCCP pastors Edwin and Julieta Egar and lay leader Ronald Ramos, a former barangay captain, filed a writ of amparo before the SC asserting that members of the Army’s 59th IB continue to threaten and violate their right to life, liberty, and security as well as their families.

READ: Two pastors, one lay leader ask SC protection against red-tagging

Petitioners said the troops “gravely coerced” them to “surrender” and admit to being part of the New People’s Army (NPA) despite the lack of evidence.

They added that there exists an “outright threat of a military operation” against them based on various text messages sent to them.

Named respondents in the petition were: Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro, Philippine Army Commending General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Commanding officer of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Roberto Capulong, 59th IB commander Lt. Col. Ernesto Teneza Jr., and enlisted men of the battalion.

READ: Protestant leaders claim being red-tagged by military

The SC ordered the respondents to make a verified return of the writ of amparo within 20 days after service and submit their comments as well as supporting documents containing the following:

• The lawful defenses showing that they did not violate or threaten with violation the right to life, liberty, and security of petitioners;
• The measures taken to determine the fate of the petitioners as well as to identify the persons responsible for the threat;
• Other relevant pieces of information related to the threat.

The writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security has been violated or under threat. Like a writ of habeas data, it serves a preventive and curative role in curbing extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

KGA/abc