uphold, assert and defend all human rights for all!
uphold, assert and defend all human rights for all!
International lawyers and human rights experts are studying the possibility of filing criminal and administrative charges against Governor Abdusakur Tan of the Province of Sulu for declaring the entire province and its people in a State of Emergency since March 31, 2009. “He must be held accountable for knowingly and wilfully doing an illegal act that caused a string of human rights violations towards the people of Sulu. It is not enough that the Supreme Court has already declared the State of Emergency as illegal and null and void. The governor must be held accountable for each count of illegal arrest, arbitrary detention, unlawful search and seizure committed during the State of Emergency”, Max de Mesa, Chairperson of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocate (PAHRA), said during a Roundtable Discussion on “Private Armies and Warlordism” last August 23, 2012 at the Commission on Human Rights Office in Quezon City.
Chairperson Etta Rosales stressed the importance of breaking the impunity by holding the perpetrators of human rights violations accountable to the bar of justice. “The government is working very closely for the dismantling of private armies all over the country and Sulu is definitely part of the task where we can expect a huge challenge”, she said. “The Supreme Court decision is another legal victory that we must be able to use in order to advance the human rights work in Sulu. Through the CHR-ARMM office under Atty. Laissa Alamia, our office will ensure that the private armies which were organized by virtue of the illegal state of emergency will also be dismantled,” the CHR Chair stressed this among 40 participants of the roundtable discussion coming from the European Union delegation, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Alliance of Progressive Labor, Sigma Rho Fraternity, Akbayan, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, Initiatives for International Dialogue, Balay Rehabilitation Center, among others.
Atty. Bayron Bocar suggested that copies of the decision must be furnished to the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Justice and the Office of the President for them to take further actions based on a clear finding by the Supreme Court that Governor Tan indeed exceeded his powers in declaring the State of Emergency and for organizing private armies in the guise of Civilian Emergency Force. ”There should be a challenge to the Government on what they would do in the aftermath of the nullification [of the Proclamation No. 1],” he further stressed.
Sr. Maria Arnold Noel, SSpS., Spokesperson of the Free Cocoy Tulawie Movement, suggested that copies of the decision must be disseminated to local officials and civil society leaders in Sulu. “The people on the ground should be able to read and understand the wisdom of this decision and its relevance to their day to day lives”, she said.
Promulgated last July 03, 2012, the decision was penned by now Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Serenno who explained that “it is only the President, as Executive, who is authorized to exercise emergency powers as provided under the Constitution. Given the foregoing, Governor Tan is not endowed with the power to call upon the armed forces at his own bidding. In issuing the proclamation, Governor Tan exceeded his authority when he declared a state of emergency and called upon the Armed Forces, the police and his own Civilian Emergency Force. The calling-out powers contemplated under the Constitution is exclusive to the President.”
The Petition was filed by Atty. Jamar Kulayan and Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie, et. al. Almost 3 months after the filing of the Petition to the Supreme Court, Governor Tan maliciously accused Tulawie of masterminding an attempted assassination plot against him. Denying the charges, Tulawie considers these as mere harassments aimed at paralyzing his human rights work. He is is now detained at the Davao City Jail after successfully obtaining an Order from the Supreme Court to transfer the venue of the case from Jolo to Davao City due to clear threats against his life and family coming from the very same state apparatus that illegally declared the state of emergency.(30)
