OSG asks Baguio judge, lawyer to inhibit from case vs antiterror body

SUPPORT FROM ALLIES Baguio-based human rights advocates throw their support behind fellow activists Windel Bolinget, Stephen Tauli, Sara Abellon-Alikes and Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa as
they stage a rally outside the Baguio Justice Hall. —VINCENT CABREZA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BAGUIO CITY—The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) had asked a local court judge to recuse herself from the high-profile trial questioning the government’s terrorist designation of four Cordillera activists, the Inquirer learned.

A copy of the OSG motion against Baguio Regional Trial Court Judge Cecilia Corazon Dulay Archog of Branch 7 has not been released to the media as of press time.

According to a lawyer privy to the case, the government lawyers claimed that Archog had been biased in the course of hearing the petitions for certiorari and preliminary injunction filed against the Anti-Terrorism Council and the Anti-Money Laundering Council by Windel Bolinget, Sarah Abellon Alikes, Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa and Steve Tauli.

The lawyer asked for anonymity so as not to disrupt proceedings.

The four belong to the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, which Bolinget chairs. The activists discovered they were designated as terrorists through ATC Resolution No. 41 which was issued on June 7 last year but was made public in July 10 through a national newspaper.

Bolinget and the other activists had asked the court to remove their terror tags and lift the freeze order imposed on their family assets.

During the first day of trial on Sept. 16, Bolinget testified that being declared “an enemy of the state” placed him and his family in grave danger.

Archog’s court is the only RTC allowed by the Supreme Court to proceed with challenging the legality of ATC and the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479) after the high court enforced new guidelines regarding the litigation of grievances against the ATC.

Administrative Matters No. 22-02-19-SC which took effect on Jan. 15, tasks the Court of Appeals to deal with all terrorism cases.

Should Archog decide to forgo the trial, it would be raffled off to another Baguio RTC, and not the Court of Appeals, the Inquirer was told by courthouse officials.

The OSG also issued a separate motion asking the court to “disqualify” human rights lawyer Jose Molintas from representing the activists because he is an incumbent member of the city council.

Violation of oath?

Molintas and Ephraim Cortez of the National Union of Peoples Lawyers are the counsels for Bolinget, Alikes, Taggaoa and Tauli, who is the brother of former United Nations Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli Corpuz.

The OSG manifestation, which Molintas received on Oct. 4, argued that the councilor has been violating his oath by litigating a case against the government.

It cited the Local Government Code which allows elected officials to practice their professions, but supposedly restricts lawyers from serving as counsels in cases where the government “is the adverse party.”

“In acting as counsel for a party against national agencies of the government, (Molintas) is engaged in unauthorized practice of the law,” according to the latest OSG motion dated Oct. 2 and signed by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra and 16 associate solicitors, some of whom have participated in the trials.

The OSG cited the bar’s rules on professional conduct, which states “a lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct.” It also “reminds” the court that such violations may lead to the disbarment or suspension of the lawyer.