By AILA JOSOL and YZELLE ROSE PADA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Human rights defenders said they are relieved that the perjury charge filed against them has been dismissed anew, this time by Judge Luisito Galvez Cortez of Quezon City RTC Branch 84.
“We are glad. Again, we have substantiated that this case is a modus operandi of the government to fabricate a lawsuit to silence human rights defenders,” Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay told Bulatlat at the sidelines of the protest action in Manila on Sunday.
Palabay was among the main speakers last Sunday during a protest action at Liwasang Bonifacio to commemorate International Human Rights Day.
Rights groups stressed that the perjury case filed by former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. in July 2019 was a retaliation for the writ of amparo and habeas data they filed to seek protection from the relentless state-sponsored red-tagging.
Read: Quezon City court acquits human rights defenders of perjury charges
The case was earlier dismissed on Jan. 9 this year by the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139. Last month, Judge Cortez upheld and finalized the acquittal of Karapatan, Gabriela and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) of perjury charges in a decision dated Nov. 17, citing “alleged failure of the prosecution to present such proof that will overcome the Constitutional presumption of innocence and thus, acquittal on the ground of reasonable doubt.”
“It placed us in a state of insecurity because we did not know what happened. It caused me anxiety and insecurity, same with my family and other members of Karapatan,” Palabay recalled when she faced a warrant of arrest while in Geneva back in 2020 after the revival of a dismissed perjury case.
Aside from Palabay, also among those charged were Elisa Tita Lubi, Roneo Clamor, Gabriela Krista Dalena, Edita Burgos, Jose Marie Callueng, Wilfredo Ruazol, Gabriela Chairperson Gertrudes Libang, Joan Salvador and RMP national coordinator Sr. Elenita Belardo.
For Palabay, human rights defenders continue to face threats, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings under the Marcos Jr. administration. These include 87 cases of extrajudicial killings; 12 victims of enforced disappearances; 316 cases of illegal and arbitrary arrests; 22,391 victims of bombing; 39,769 victims of indiscriminate firing; 24,670 victims of forced evacuation; 552 victims of forced surrender; and thousands of incidents of threats, harassment, and intimidation.
“We need accountability. If crimes were repeatedly committed, no one is held accountable, penalized, or indemnified — and indemnification is not just about money. A large part of it is public information about crimes that the citizens should not replicate.” Palabay said. (JJE, DAA) 
