SC grants activist's petition for protection

The Supreme Court (SC) has granted the petition of an environmental activist allegedly abducted in Pangasinan in March this year for a temporary protection order.

The high court also issued a writ of amparo and habeas data in favor of Francisco “Eco” Dangla III, which was included in his plea.

 A writ of amparo is a legal remedy, which is usually a protection order in the form of a restraining order. The writ of habeas data, meanwhile, compels the government to destroy information that could cause harm.

“A temporary protection order is issued an interim relief against respondents and all the persons and entities acting and operating under their directions, instructions, and orders, prohibiting them from entering within a radius of one kilometer of the persons, places of residence, work, or present locations, of petitioner, as well as those of his immediate family,” the SC said in a resolution promulgated September 9, but made public Wednesday.

Named respondents are:

• Lieutenant General Roy Galido as commanding general of the Philippine Army
• Brigadier General Gulliver Señires as commanding general of the 702nd Brigade
• Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil
• Police Brigadier General Lou Evangelista as regional director of PNP-Region 1
• Police Colonel Jeff Fanged as provincial director of Pangasinan Police Office

“Furthermore, you, respondents, and all persons and entities acting and operating under your directions, instructions, and orders are prohibited from entering within a radius of one kilometer of the person, places of residence, work, and present locations of petitioner and his immediate family,” the resolution added.

The resolution directed the Court of Appeals to "conduct a summary hearing on the petition ...and after hearing decide the petition within 10 days it is submitted for decision."

In August this year, Dangla asked the SC to grant him, his immediate family, and his witnesses a temporary protection order together with a petition for a writ of amparo and writ of habeas data. 

Dangla together with another activist said he was abducted in March by armed men in Dagupan City. He added that he was questioned about his work and affiliations.  He resurfaced three days after his abduction.—Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA Integrated News