CJ Peralta urged to leave legacy of rights safeguards in his last days in office

On his last en banc as Chief Justice, we urge CJ Diosdado Peralta to act on the various appeals to the SC to protect lawyers, petitioners and the people amid the rampant human rights abuses happening in the country today. Let his legacy be that of stopping the tide of extrajudicial killings, trumped-up charges, red-tagging, terrorist-labeling and other abuses being committed by state forces.

We hope that in his last days as CJ, the SC will look into the continuing killings and attacks on lawyers – many of which remain unsolved. We likewise expect the SC to provide safeguards against the abuse and weaponization of search warrants that have led to so many killings and arrests of activists. These cannot be allowed to continue. The report of the Court Administrator stating that the issuance of warrants and the service of warrants are separate matters does not relieve the SC of its duty to review the hasty and questionable issuance of search warrants en masse.

The SC is urged to provide human rights safeguards on the issuance of search warrants as well as review the search warrants that have resulted in the deaths of so many.

Human rights are taking a serious beating and the SC cannot sit idly by as blood flows from the deaths arising from the warrants issued by the courts. #