The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) chapter in the Cordillera region said the court has recognized the need for Arroyo to respond to a petition for the issuance of a writ of amparo.

The lawyers’ group said, “The Court brilliantly supported this tack on the President’s own duty to be informed of the goings-on around her and to enforce the rule of law. This ruling of the Court provides substance to the otherwise empty statement that no one is above the law.”

“By this decision, the President can be held accountable for every case of human rights abuse, especially enforced disappearances, even simply on the level of ensuring the reappearance of the disappeared,” the group said further.

The NUPL Cordillera chapter lauded the court’s independence and commitment to the rule of law.

The court states, “The tribunals are the palladium of the civil liberties of the people. They are the sanctuary where fundamental human rights are safeguarded. Shall we fail in the crucial hours of actual test? Shall we disappoint the unfortunate victim? This is the last asylum where the victim can resort to. Shall we reject him with freezing indifference? Here comes salvation for a drowning man. Shall we throw him to his doom? From the deepest bottom of our souls surges a powerful No, as an overpowering answer. No. We cannot do that. We must protect the victim. It is our unavoidable duty. It is an imperative mandate of the conscience.”

“However, the fight is not yet over. The bottom line is we need to find James Balao,” the NUPL Cordillera chapter said.

The group lamented the court’s denial of the interim relief sought, particularly the petition for the issuance of an inspection order. The group said an inspection order would have saved much time and effort in locating the missing activist.

CHRA Secretary General Jude Baggo deplored, “The proceedings should be consistent with the letter of the law, and the decisions should have been done with the utmost immediacy. The delay of the release of the court decision is undue especially with the urgency of our search for James. It denies to the victim the protection that should have been granted immediately.”

CPA Chairperson Beverly Longid said that while the court directed the respondents to produce Balao, the respondents can easily deny that he is in their custody.

“However disappointed we may be on the judgment and the slow dispensation of justice, this shall not dampen our continuing efforts to search for James and exact state accountability on his enforced disappearance,” Longid said. With reports from Kim N. Quitasol, Northern Dispatch
/Bulatlat.com

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