Bulatlat News
“Such frivolous yet retaliatory charges pursued by government counsels also show how public funds are being wastefully utilized to go after those who defend and uphold human rights.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The saga continues for 10 human rights defenders as the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said that it will once again appeal the decision of the court acquitting the rights defenders.
Human rights group Karapatan said that on March 7, its legal counsel was notified by the OSG that it intends to appeal the decision of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84 Judge Luisito Cortez upholding the acquittal of leaders of Karapatan, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and Gabriela on charges of perjury.
The group said that the OSG’s appeal will be handled by members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Legal Cooperation Cluster.
The group denounced what they call as continuing harassment by the government against human rights defenders and reiterated their call to abolish the NTF-ELCAC.
This is the second time that the court’s decision on this case was questioned.
In 2019, then National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. filed perjury complaints against leaders of Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and Gabriela. In January of 2023, Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Aimee Alcera acquitted the human rights defenders. The government then filed a petition for certiorari in the same year only to be dismissed by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84 Judge Luisito Cortez.
Read: ‘Esperon’s complaint deflects on more fundamental matters’ – Karapatan
Read: Karapatan denounces renewed judicial harassment vs rights defenders
Read: Rights defenders welcome perjury dismissal
“This case, which dates back to 2019, went through preliminary investigation and trial hearings, resulting in our acquittal by Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Aimee Alcera in 2023, and Judge Cortez’s dismissal of the government’s petition for certiorari that same year. Yet, the saga continues to this day,” the group said in a statement.
They added that such “frivolous yet retaliatory charges pursued by government counsels also show how public funds are being wastefully utilized to go after those who defend and uphold human rights.”
“Instead of pursuing cases against corrupt public officials or against police and military officers responsible for the killings of drug suspects or activists, our government lawyers are wasting the people’s money for its campaign against human rights watchdogs,” Karapatan said.
But this is not a surprise, they added, considering NTF-ELCAC’s policy to undertake legal offensives against those whom they perceive as enemies of the State.
“From the Duterte to the Marcos-Duterte regime, this is the same task force that filed cases of perjury against young environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano. This is the same task force that lauded police and military officers responsible for the Bloody Sunday killings and arrests. This is the same task force that is notorious for red- and terrorist-tagging in the Philippines. This is the same task force that has justified the killings and other human rights violations against peasants, indigenous people, workers and development workers,” Karapatan said.
The group calls for an “end to the attacks perpetrated under the Marcos-Duterte regime.”
“We shall continue to challenge these attacks and demand justice for all victims of human rights violations,” the group said. (RTS, RVO) 
