The National Security Council (NSC) hailed on Monday, Aug. 12, the recent decision by the Court of Appeals (CA) dismissing the petition for writ of amparo and writ of habeas data filed by environmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro against several government officials in connection with their alleged abduction in Bataan last year.

“This decision is an unequivocal vindication for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) and its officials, and clearly exposes this case as a mere harassment and baseless case against the task force,” National Security Adviser Eduardo M. Año said.

In a 55-page decision dated Aug. 2, the former Special Eight Division of the CA dismissed the petitions filed by petitioners Tamano and Castro, citing a lack of substantial to establish their entitlement to the writs sought.

According to the NSC, the CA ruled that petitioners failed to prove the existence of an imminent or continuing threat to their life, liberty, and security which led to the denial of the petition for the writ of amparo.

The 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.” It covers extralegal killings and other enforced disappearances or threats.

At the time of the filing of the petition, the NSC said that Tamano and Castro were no longer detained but exercising their full freedoms under the constitution. The CA ruled that even during their stay at the military camp of the 70th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA), they were under no threat whatsoever or restraint whatsoever.

The court also ruled that the petitioners submitted no evidence of State participation which, according to the NSC, means that the PA, Philippine National Police (PNP), and the NTF-ELCAC “were not involved in their alleged abduction or alleged forced disappearance.”

Read: NTF-ELCAC cries ‘betrayal’ as missing environment activists surface, bare military ‘abduction’

Meanwhile, the court ruled that the petitioners failed to prove the existence of the right to informational privacy and that they have not demonstrated their entitlement to the right of informational privacy over a specific piece of information, which was the cause for the denial of the petition for the writ of habeas data.

The writ of habeas data is a remedy available to any person “whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party.”

It also said that the petitioners failed to specify the information or data they seek from respondents and source thereof.

'It backfired'

In a press conference at Camp Crame, NSC spokesperson Asst. Director General Jonathan Malaya asserted that the ruling “is a decisive affirmation of both the NTF-ELCAC as an organization and himself personally.”

"Using this case, the militant left and all their allied organizations have attempted to demonize the NTF ELCAC and use it as another excuse to call for its abolition both in the court of law and in the court of public opinion. They attempted to use our laws to intimidate, scare, and silence us by filing cases in the courts," he stated.

"But all of these backfired on them,” he added.

Castro and Tamano are environmental activists who actively campaigned against the reclamation activities in Manila Bay. They, however, were associated by the NTF-ELCAC with Left-leaning groups Karapatan and Anakbayan.

On Sept. 2, 2023, Castro and Tamano were reported missing in Orion, Bataan.

Read: NTF-ELCAC says SC decision in favor of 'abducted' environmental activists a 'temporary setback'

The NTF-ELCAC presented Castro and Tamano to the public on Sept 19, 2023 as “rebel-returnees” in a press conference held in Plaridel, Bulacan. They were expected to narrate how they supposedly left their organizations and surrendered to elements of the Army’s 70 IB.

However, government officials were caught off guard when the two activists accused the military and police of abducting them using a van.

Last Feb. 15, the Supreme Court (SC) announced that Tamano and Castro were entitled to the remedies of writs of amparo and habeas data, as well as a temporary protection order (TPO).