Dismissal of human rights petitions vs Duterte reaches finality

Supreme Court. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The dismissal of petitions for protective writs filed by several human rights groups where former President Rodrigo Duterte was impleaded has attained finality.

In a document made public Thursday, the Supreme Court has already released the entry of judgment for the case of which a decision has become final and executory on April 29, 2024.

Under court rules, an entry of judgment means the decision was already recorded in the SC’s Books and can no longer be appealed or revised.

The case was about the petition for review filed by Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), and Gabriela that sought a reversal of the Court of Appeals’ decision dismissing their petition for writs of amparo and habeas data to protect their members.

READ: Groups ask SC to review CA dismissal of amparo case

The said petition was dismissed by the 14th Division of the Court of Appeals on June 28, 2018. The petition for review on certiorari, filed on June 28, 2019 at the Supreme Court which raised issues on the CA decision, was followed by two more manifestations filed by KARAPATAN, after the extrajudicial killing of three of its human rights workers – Zara Alvarez, Ryan Hubilla and Nelly Bagasala – who were supposed to testify in the hearings.

Karapatan expressed dismay over the SC decision.