The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a writ of amparo in favor of missing activists Elizabeth “Loi” Magbanua and Alipio “Ador” Juat.
In an en banc resolution, the SC remanded the petition filed by relatives of the missing activists to the Court of Appeals to summarily hear the petition on August 30, 2022 and to decide the case within 10 days after its submission for decision.
The high court also ordered respondents Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro; acting Defense Secretary retired Gen. Jose Faustino Jr; National Intelligence Coordinating Agency director general retired General Ricardo F. de Leon ; Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr; acting Army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Roy Galido; Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff Maj. Gen. Romulo Manuel; and deputy chief of staff for Civil Military Operations Brig. Gen. Nolasco Mempin, to make a verified return of the writ of amparo and file a comment to the petition before the Court of Appeals within 72 hours after its service.
The petition was filed by Loi’s partner Ruth Manglalan and Loi’s niece Alyssa Marie C. Magbanua, together with Ador’s daughter Maureen Juat.
The petitioners, on behalf of Loi and Ador, sought for the issuance of the writ of amparo for their protection, claiming that their rights to life, liberty and security have been violated on account of their disappearance.
As prayed for by the petitioners, the SC also granted a Temporary Protection Order and prohibited the respondents from going within a radius of one (1) kilometer of the petitioners and their immediate family.
Maglalan said Loi was last seen by her fellow labor organizers on May 3, 2022 at their meeting at Barangay Punturin, Valenzuela City together with Juat.
However, in the case of Juat, petitioners claimed that he was able to visit his sister Marielle in Pandacan, Manila on her birthday last May 27, 2022 or weeks after his disappearance.
During that meeting, Juat allegedly informed his sister that he was staying in Camp Aguinaldo without providing further details.
On June 9, 2022, Maureen said he tried to call her father on his cellphone and was able to talk to him.
Maureen said her father told him that he was fine and that he was just waiting for his pass before he could be allowed to leave Camp Aguinaldo. On June 13, 2022,
Juat allegedly visited his sister anew and stayed in her house overnight.
The petitioner said her father told his sister some information which confirmed that he and Loi were abducted on May 3, 2022.
Juat last visited her sister on June 27, 2022 and stayed until July 1, 2022 and never returned since then.
The Rule on the Writ of Amparo was adopted by the Court on October 24, 2007, a result of the two-day National Consultative Summit on Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances held on July 16-17, 2007. The Rule is intended to address the pernicious problems of “extralegal killings” and “enforced disappearances” and serves both preventive and curative roles in addressing these issues.