Women's group Gabriela denounced on Saturday, Sept. 16, the move of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to repeal the acquittal of former senator Leila de Lima which transpired in court almost four months ago.
 

"Gabriela condemns the Solicitor General's attempt to overturn the long overdue acquittal of fellow woman human rights defender, former Senator Leila de Lima," the group said.

In May 2023, former senator Leila de Lima was acquitted by Muntinlupa court in one of her drug charges.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said that the OSG filed a request for certiorari regarding De Lima’s amnesty on Sept. 4.

"The OSG filed a petition for certiorari, not an appeal, with the Court of Appeals on September 4, 2023, on the ground of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the trial court judge," Guevarra said.

Certiorari is a legal way used to request for an assessment of a lower court’s decision done by a higher court.

Gabriela added that there is a "mockery" in the judicial system and that the action of the OSG is "ridiculous".

"The executive is making a mockery of the judicial system by filing a ridiculous petition for certiorari on baseless grounds merely to harass women critics, like Sen. De Lima," it said.

For Gabriela, the petition was a way of the administration to afflict human rights defenders.

"This is becoming the go-to means of the government to persecute human rights defenders, as in the similar petition filed by Esperon after our acquittal from his fabricated perjury charges," it added. (Lizst Torres Abello)