De Lima files test case vs Duterte in SC
FIGHTING BACK Sen. Leila de Lima, the subject of harsh criticisms from President Duterte for questioning extrajudicial killings in his antidrug campaign, files a petition for habeas data in the Supreme Court to challenge his immunity from suit.—MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Sen. Leila de Lima on Monday asked the Supreme Court to stop President Duterte and his men from collecting information about her private life and from issuing statements maligning her womanhood and dignity.
De Lima went to the high court to file a petition for a writ of habeas data against Mr. Duterte, whom she accused of violating her right to privacy, life and liberty.
Her action came after months of being at the receiving end of the President’s wrath—he accused her of being an immoral woman who had sexual relations with her driver and threatened he would destroy her.
Malacañang said the senator was portraying herself as a victim and using her gender to divert attention from the illegal drug allegations against her.
De Lima “is apparently playing the gender card as a shield against mounting evidence of her ties with high-profile drug lords,” said presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.
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In a statement she read at a news conference after she filed her petition in the high court, De Lima said, “Rodrigo Roa Duterte, you were right about one thing: Yes, I am a fighter. And this is me, taking my stand, fighting. You call me a slut, a woman of the world.”
Article continues after this advertisement“Yes, I am a woman. I am a strong woman who will not allow an insecure man to destroy her,” she said.
The petition is a test case because it challenges the President’s immunity from suit.
“I am here to exorcise my demon,” De Lima said at the news conference attended by her lawyers and supporters. “(Mr. Duterte) wears a crown and sits on a throne now, but that should not shield him from being held responsible for launching a personal vendetta against one of his own citizens.”
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said one “cannot sue the President in every turn. Otherwise, you chain the President and prevent him from performing his tasks under the Constitution.”
‘Not immune’
De Lima and her lawyer, Jose Manuel Diokno, insisted that Mr. Duterte was not immune from habeas data suit.
“The verbal attacks on petitioner’s womanhood and threats on her person are not covered by presidential immunity from suit because they are not the official acts of the President. They constitute the unlawful, unofficial conduct that have nothing to do with the President’s duties and responsibilities,” her petition said.
It added that the verbal attacks as admitted by Mr. Duterte stemmed from a grudge he had against De Lima, who investigated the President, then mayor of Davao City, for his links to the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects through assassins of the so-called Davao Death Squad. She was then chair of the Commission on Human Rights.
Spate of killings
This year, De Lima said Mr. Duterte’s verbal tirades against her escalated after she initiated a Senate committee investigation of the spate of killings in the President’s brutal crackdown on drugs, which has left more than 3,700 drug suspects dead.
She asked the high court to grant a writ of habeas data covering the following:
Enjoining (Mr. Duterte) and any of his representatives, agents, assigns, officers, or employees from collecting information about petitioner’s private life outside the realm of legitimate public concern.
Disclosing to the petitioner the name of the foreign country, who, according to the President, “helped him” listen in on the petitioner, the manner and means by which he listened in on petitioner and the sources of his information or where the data about the petitioner’s private life and alleged private affairs came from.
Ordering the deletion, destruction or rectification of such data or information.
Enjoining the respondent from making public statements that a) malign her as a woman and degrade her dignity as a human being; b) sexually discriminate against her; c) describe or publicize her alleged sexual misconduct; d) constitute psychological violence against her; and e) otherwise violate her rights or are contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy and/or public interest. —WITH REPORTS FROM MARLON RAMOS AND GIL C. CABACUNGAN
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