Human rights groups asked the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday to expedite the resolution of their petition which assailed the denial by the Court of Appeals (CA) of their plea for writs of Amparo and habeas corpus against government officials led by President Duterte.

The groups, led by Karapatan, also asked the SC to “re-examine its understanding of red-tagging and terrorist-labelling and finally see the same as threats to the people’s right to life, liberty, and security.”

In a manifestation, the groups, through the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), told the SC they had to air their plea because of the recent killing of community health worker and political activist Zara Alvarez.

They attributed Alvarez’s killing to her inclusion in the government’s list of “communist terrorists.”

“Her death proves that being subjected to red-tagging and terrorist-labeling constitutes an actual threat and not merely one of supposition with the likelihood of happening,” they said.

They pointed out that Alvarez and murdered peace consultants Randy Malayao and Randal Echanis, were branded as “communist”  and “terrorist” by the Department of Justice (DOJ) which included their names in the petition for proscription filed before the Regional Trial Court of Manila in 2018.

While the groups said that the name of Alvarez was deleted from the DOJ list, threats to her life, liberty, and security did not cease.

They said Alvarez was shot to death by an unidentified assailant while she was walking home in Eroreco Subdivision in Bacolod City.

A Writ of Amparo “is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.”

A writ of habeas corpus is a court order “directing a person detaining another, to produce the body of the latter at a designated time and place.”

Court records showed that on May 6, 2019, the groups of Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), and Gabriela filed a petition for writs of Amparo and habeas corpus with the SC which directed the CA to conduct hearings and resolve the case.

The CA, on June 18, 2019, conducted a summary hearing but the appellate court disallowed the presentation of testimonial and other documents.

Alvarez was among the witnesses the groups wanted to present to support their petition.

Towards the end of June, 2019, the CA dismissed the petition prompting the groups to elevate the case anew to the SC.

In their manifestation, the groups told the SC that labelling their members as fronts of the communist movement has resulted in numerous killings, disappearances, and other human rights violations.

“Petitioners submit that the merits of the subject petition be examined in light of these events. It can be recalled that the Court a quo (Court of Appeals) precipitously dismissed the petition with inexplicable skepticism, holding, among others, that ‘there was no evidence that the alleged killings and disappearances are on account of the victims’ membership in organizations tagged as legal fronts even without giving petitioners the opportunity to present such evidence. Petitioners were, in effect, deprived of their fundamental right to due process,” they said.

“Alvarez’ untimely demise is precisely what petitioners sought to prevent by coming to court. Nevertheless, they continue to hope that the protection she was never given be extended to them, especially at a time when the promotion and defense of human rights is susceptible to being wrongfully interpreted, suppressed, and punished by the State as terrorism,” they added.