Various groups rallied at the Supreme Court following the scheduled interview of two controversial regional trial court (RTC) judges, Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert of Quezon City RTC Branch 84 ang Jason Zapanta of Manila RTC Branch 174, who are applying for higher posts in the judiciary.
Villavert and Zapanta were among the shortlisted applicants in the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) aiming for higher court positions.
On May 7, JBC announced four vacancies for Associate Justice positions at the Court of Appeals (CA), two at the Sandiganbayan, and one for Ombudsman Special Prosecutor where Villavert eyes for a position as an Associate Justice of either the CA or the Sandiganbayan.
Calls reverberate to disqualify Villavert, Zapanta
“Malinaw sa amin na dapat itong mga judge na ito ay hindi na dapat i-entertain sa Korte Suprema. Bagamat iniinterbyu, bigyang pansin na imbestigahan kung gaano kalaki ang naging perwisyo nito sa ating bayan, paano pa kung ito ay magkakaroon ng pusisyon? Ano nang mangyayari sa sistema ng hustisya?” said Edgar Gado of Kilusang Mayo Uno National Capital Region.
[It is clear to us that these judges should not be entertained by the Supreme Court. While they are being interviewed, attention should be given to investigating the extent of the harm they have caused to our country. What will happen to the justice system if they are given positions?]
Gado also leads the network campaign Defend our Unionists which calls for the release of labor organizers Romina Astudillo, Mark Ryan Cruz, Jaymie Gregorio Jr., who are his colleagues in KMU NCR, and Joel Demate of SOLAR.
Since 2018, pre-dawn raid operations led to the arrest and filing of trumped-up charges against 76 activists including peace consultants, unionists, and journalists in Manila and Bacolod based on search warrants by Villavert, making her known as the “factory search warrant queen”.
Zapanta, on the other hand, issued search warrants targeting 24 individuals in Rizal, Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna, leading to the killing of nine Southern Tagalog activist, dubbed as the Bloody Sunday massacre, in March 2021. He also issued the warrant for the raid on activist couple Ana Mariz and Ariel Evangelista, who were killed during the raid. The Department of Justice later exonerated their killers.
“Mahalang ipakita kung sino itong mga taong ito. At mahalagang ipakilala dito sa Korte Suprema na dapat hindi ito mabigyan ng tsansa na magkaroon ng pwesto. Yong dangal at karangalan ng Court of Appeals o Sandiganbayan, ano nalang ang sasabihin lalo na ng ating mga kababayan? Ang sistema ng ating hustisya rito na kung sino ang nang-aabuso, nakakapuwesto pa sa kapangyarihan. Parang kabalintunaan sa dapat nilang ginagawang trabaho o mandato para paglingkuran ng mamamayan,” Gado added.
[It is important to reveal who these people are and inform the Supreme Court that they should not be given a chance to hold a position. What will our citizens say about the honor and integrity of the Court of Appeals or Sandiganbayan? That those who abuse power are still given positions of authority especially in our justice system. This only contradicts their duty and mandate to serve the people]
Meanwhile, rights group KARAPATAN reiterated their long-pending filed petition at the SC in 2020 seeking for humanitarian release of vulnerable political prisoners.
KARAPATAN Secretary-General Jigs Clamor noted that the petition has been delayed ever since the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and now with the increasing heat from El Niño, which further poses risks particularly to vulnerable and elderly political detainees.
“Sana naman sa puntong ito ay pakinggan tayo ng Korte Suprema,” Clamor said.
According to Clamor, neither Villavert nor Zapanta possess the needed competence, integrity, probity and independence to serve as justices of the Court of Appeals.
Quest for justice
“No further injustices, please,” Manila Today editor and one of the arrested in Human Rights day (HRD) 7 Lady Ann Salem said in a Facebook post.
Villavert warrant cases followed the same crackdown pattern accompanied by the planting of firearms and grenades. Shortly after the arrests, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) labeled them as “urban operatives” and “high ranking cadres” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New Peoples Army (NPA).
However, many of the cases were later dismissed for material inconsistencies and lack of probable cause. Several activists and peace consultants were released like Suaybaguio in October 2021, couple Bartolome and Agovida in November 2021, Tondo 3 in December 2022. Three of the HRD7 have also been freed.
In the transcript for the application of the search warrants against the HRD7, specific information about their addresses were already given to the police.
“That was stupefying. I thought the police were there to establish they have personal knowledge of things they are alleging. Also in the transcript, the police alleged getting guns from us and delivering them to others from the HRD7 every month. That was several months before we were even at that address,” Salem added.
The Court of Appeals backed the Mandaluyong court’s case against Salem; however, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) or the government’s prosecutor continues to appeal and open the case at a higher court.
