AJLPP Condemns Reactionary Pro-Military Court of Appeals

By AJLPP



Keywords: Direct Action, Human Rights,



AJLPP Condemns Reactionary Pro -Military Courts

AJLPP Statement

July 23, 2008

Contact: Mario Santos

Phone: (415) 309-5835

Blogspot: Alliancephilippines.blogspot.com

On the Court of Appeals Dismissal of Habeas Corpus Case of Jonas Burgos

San Francisco-- The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) its condemns in the strongest terms possible the recent Court of Appeals(CA) decision, dismissing the petitions for the writ of habeas corpus and for writ of Amparo of Mrs. Edith Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, who was believed to have been abducted by unidentified military men in broad daylight at 12 noon at the crowded Ever Gotesco Mall along Commonwealth Avenue on April 28, 2007.

The AJLPP National Coordinator Mario Santos calls the decision anti-people and a big blow to the victims of human rights violations in the Philippines. It only exposes the Court of Appeals like the Supreme as a tool of the reactionary system to keep the people on the bourgeois justice system.

The AJLPP finds incredulous and absurd that the CA's conclusion was very partial to the military and that there was no evidence linking the military to Jonas' abduction, despite the overwhelming evidences that have been provided by the petitioners. State security forces incriminated themselves by claiming Jonas to be a rebel.

The AJLPP finds the CA as being very notorious in siding with the big corporations, landlords and wealthy patrons of the system. It is treading the way of the Arroyo’s Supreme Court like the Marcos Supreme Court in 1972.

As the human rights group in the Philippine, Karapatan noted, "Since last year, many of the members of the CA had not successfully tried cases of human rights violations and had been remiss in giving remedy to victims seeking redress."

The CA also rejected the habeas corpus petition for University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan. The CA said there is no proof that the military has the missing women in their custody. It also rejected the petition of the mother of the Gumanoy sisters being kept in detention by the AFP.

The AJLPP also expresses deep sympathy and support to Mrs. Burgos and all relatives and victims of human rights violations under the US-Arroyo Regime.

**********