CA issues writ of habeas corpus for 2 missing IP rights activists

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has issued a writ of habeas corpus directing the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to bring before it indigenous peoples’ (IP) rights activists Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” de Jesus and Dexter Capuyan, who were believed to be victims of enforced disappearance.

In an eight-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Florencio Mamauag Jr., the CA’s Thirteenth Division granted separate petitions filed by the families of de Jesus and Capuyan, who have been reported missing since April 28.

De Jesus is an information officer of the Philippine Task Force on Indigenous Peoples Rights, while Capuyan is a former activist.

The appellate court said it granted the petitions for being sufficient in form and substance.

Named as respondents in the petition were AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Andres

Centino, PNP Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., Rizal Police Provincial Director Col. Dominic Baccay, and PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat.

A writ of habeas corpus “is a writ directed to a person detaining another, commanding the former to produce the body of the latter at a designated time and place.” It extends “to all cases of illegal and arbitrary detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty….”

“Finding the instant petition to be sufficient in form and substance and it appearing from the allegations therein that the writ ought to issue, this Court hereby gives due course to this petition and orders the issuance of the corresponding writ by the Division Clerk of Court, this Court, under the seal of this Court,” the CA said.

The CA also directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to serve the writ to the respondents, requiring them to appear before it and produce the bodies and persons of de Jesus and

Capuyan, if found to be in their custody, during the hearing scheduled today, July 14, 2023.

The respondents were also directed to show cause why de Jesus and Capuyan should remain in their custody.

“Respondents are ordered to make a proper return of this writ with this Court within five days from its implementation in accordance with the law,” the court said.

The families of Capuyan and De Jesus said the duo went missing on April 28 at Golden City Subdivision in Taytay, Rizal.

The two were reportedly on board a tricycle that was blocked by two cars. Witnesses said several armed men alighted from the vehicles and told them that they were personnel of the PNP-CIDG and that they should not intervene.

The armed men reportedly forced the victims to separately board the vehicles and left the area.

The petitioners said on May 12, 2013, the 1st Civil Relations Group of the AFP and the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army announced on their Facebook pages that Capuyan was arrested based warrants for cases pending in the courts of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur and Bontoc, Mountain Province. It was also reported that he is included in the wanted dead or alive list, with bounties in the amount of P1 million to P2.8 million.

The De Jesus family said since various military and police-backed Facebook pages announced Capuyan has a pending warrant, this has exposed him and anybody with him, including de Jesus, in danger from those going after him.

Thus, the de Jesus family maintained they have reasonable belief that de Jesus is under the custody of either the military or the police since they published on social media that Capuyan is a member of the New People’s Army with pending arrest warrants.

As such, the petitioners alleged military and police personnel may have every reason to abduct Capuyan and his companion.

Level System for Covid-19 Response dated February 27, 2022; MMDA Reso - lution No. 22-01; DOTr D.O. No. 2022001; DILG Memorandum Circular Nos. 2022-002 and 2022-008; LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2022-001; DepEdDOH Joint Memorandum Circular No. 001, Series of 2022; DOH Department Circular No. 2022-0131; and Makati City Ordinance No. 2022-005.

IATF Resolution No. 148-B, compels all public and private establishments to require their eligible employees who are tasked to do on-site work to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or else subject themselves to RT-PCR testing every two weeks at their own expense, among others.

Under the resolution, on-site workers who remain unvaccinated should not be terminated but must take RT-PCR tests regularly at their own expense.

The said IATF resolution also bars unvaccinated individuals from boarding and riding public transportation subject to certain exceptions.

The Court held that the resolution of the issues raised by the said petitioners required the determination and adjudication of “extremely technical and scientific” facts that warrants the conduct of a full-blown proceeding before a trial court. Joel

R. San Juan

PHL, US troops sustain bilateral Marine-aviation war exercises

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

ADAY after the country marked the seventh year of the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration award that junked China’s expansive claims over the West Philippine Sea (WPS), combined Filipino and American troops sustained their scheduled series of exercises on Thursday.

The Marine Aviation Support Activity (MASA) 23 involving the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the Cope Thunder 23-2, which involved the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF), was carried out by joint forces, as both countries continued to enhance their interoperability operations.

Filipino and American marines were scheduled to sink a mock enemy ship in the waters of Zambales on Thursday afternoon as the two-week war games involving Philippine Marines and US Marine continued in Luzon.

The BRP Lake Caliraya, a decommissioned replenishment tanker of the Philippine Navy (PN), was the target of the maritime attack in the waters of San Narciso, Zambales by joint forces on the seventh day of the ongoing MASA 23. The sinking exercise (SINKEX) or maritime

Rep. Rodriguez calls for resignation of MTRCB board over commercial release of ‘Barbie’ movie

ASENIOR lawmaker on Thursday called for the resignation of members of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) “for failing to support and uphold our national interest.”

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez made the call following MTRCB’s decision to allow the commercial release of the controversial movie Barbie starting July 19.

The film reportedly contains a depiction or reference to China’s expansive nine-dash-line territorial claim over the South China Sea, including parts of the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Rodriguez aired his resignation appeal a day after the seventh-year anniversary of the country’s historic victory in the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, which invalidated Beijing’s assertion of its extended maritime domain.

The court also ruled that some islands in the South China Sea, which are occupied by China belong to the Philippines as they are inside the latter’s EEZ.

“I am dismayed and disappointed by MTRCB’s decision. The inclusion in the movie of China’s illegal nine-dash-line claim is against our national interest, which the board apparently does not appreciate. Those officials should not stay in government any minute longer,” Rodriguez said.

Operations Command (AFSOC), undertook specialized trainings that included high altitude low opening (HALO), aerial sniping, jungle survival and casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) hoist training.

He said the MTRCB members’ vote to allow the commercial showing of the controversial movie “embarrasses and demeans the country and the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong‘ Marcos Jr. before the international community.”

“I have no doubt that President BBM Jr. supports the July 12, 2016 arbitral ruling. He has repeatedly stated so. We should be the first country and people to assert it and to insist that China complies with it because it was our victory in the international tribunal,” he said.

He added that it is ironic that Vietnam has banned Barbiefor its “dubious content, while the MTRCB obviously wants to promote Beijing’s baseless expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.”

“The board’s decision is doubly shameful and doubly ironic in the face of yesterday’s [Wednesday] expressions of support by the United States and numerous countries, the latest of which is India, for our 2016 arbitral victory,” Rodriguez stressed.

The MTRCB justified its decision by saying, “The Board believes that, all things considered, it has no basis to ban the film Barbie’as there is no clear nor outright depiction of the ‘nine-dash line’ in the subject of the film.”

Rodriguez said the board’s statement “is an admission that there is a portrayal of China’s claim in the movie, though it was not, to use the agency’s own language, ‘clear nor outright.’”

“A direct or indirect insult is still an insult. If you don’t get that, MTRCB, shame on you!” he said.

“If its Vietnam counterpart has found it offensive, why can’t MTRCB? he asked.

‘Circumspect, judicious, and prudent’

THE MTRCB was “circumspect, judicious, and prudent” in its contextual review of the Barbie film, according to House deputy minority leader Rep. Bernadette Herrera who also said the “power to ban any movie, I believe, should be wielded sparingly and as a last resort among the many powers and tools at the disposal of the MTRCB.”

“As a legislator looking at this matter using a policy lens, I can see the MTRCB wielded its authority responsibly. I also take this opportunity to invite the MTRCB and the local movie and television industry to recommend to Congress amendments to the MTRCB charter or have a new law entirely that will address the regulatory issues affecting their sector,” Herrera added.

Herrera also said the legislative proposals could be in the form of a “codified omnibus law or a package of laws touching on the many facets of movie and television production, marketing, working conditions, and financing.”

Herrera said they may recommend more developmental roles for MTRCB and perhaps less regulation.

“I do see the mo vie and television sectors as over-regulated—a situation that hinders its growth and evolution. I would like to see the establishment of a grant-giving government agency for television and cyberspace,” she said.

“I also believe local governments and the Department of Tourism should be empowered to attract film producers to choose the Philippines as their site for location shoots, enticing them with production grants, Filipino hospitality, and red tape-free regulations. The Philippines should become more competitive in these aspects compared to other countries,” the minority lawmaker suggested.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz