The Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary protection order for surfaced desaparecido Francisco “Eco” Dangla III, who was abducted in San Carlos City, Pangasinan last March 24.
Dangla, an environmental rights defender and convenor of Pangasinan People’s Strike for the Environment, and fellow activist Joxielle "Jak" Tiong were inside a tricycle when they were attacked and forcefully dragged into a pickup vehicle, their fact-finding team reported. The two resurfaced “bruised but alive” three days after captivity under suspected state agents.
In a September 9 resolution only released publicly last Wednesday, the SC issued temporary protection for Dangla that prohibits the respondents—all of whom are senior police and military officials—from being within the activist and his immediate family’s vicinity.
The restraining order was imposed against high ranking Philippine Army officers Lieutenant General Roy Galido and Brigadier General Gulliver Señires. Senior police officials were also included, namely Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil, Ilocos Region Police Chief Lou Evangelista, and Pangasinan Police Chief Jeff Fanged.
The Court also granted Dangla’s August 30 petition for writs of amparo and habeas data, legal remedies filed to protect an individual from the respondents against human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and related threats.
A writ of amparo safeguards the petitioner against threats to life, liberty, and security, while a writ of habeas data entitles Dangla to rectification or destruction of data related to him that were kept by the respondents.
“Asahan ninyo ang aking [patuloy] na pagkilos para sa kalikasan at sa mamamayang inaapi at pinagsasamantalahan,” Dangla wrote in a post a month after his disappearance. “Tinatanaw ko ang hinaharap na patuloy na makatuwang si Jak sa mga hangaring ito.”
Though the court feat was a victory for Dangla and his legal team from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, a possible overturn of the amparo and habeas data looms. The Court of Appeals will still have to call for a full hearing to determine whether the surfaced desaparecido will actually be granted the privilege of the writs and permanent protection.
Last August, the appellate court rejected the issuance of the same writs for abducted environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano. Castro and Tamano’s appeal was ultimately junked in a resolution issued last Tuesday, with the court citing in its decision a “lack of merit” due to their camp’s failure to substantiate evidence.
Castro and Tamano received in February a temporary protection from the high court for their abduction in September 2023. The pair later resurfaced in a press conference facilitated by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict two weeks after their disappearance, where they went off-script and revealed that they were actually abducted by members of the military.
Despite their return, Dangla, Tiong, Castro, and Tamano still constitute the growing number of enforced disappearances under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. At present, there are 17 active forced disappearance cases under his term.
“This pattern of attacks against environmental activists, human rights defenders and whole communities, in the context of the prevalent climate of impunity and socio-economic ills, shows that the rights situation in the Philippines remains dire under the Marcos Jr. administration,” Dangla and Tiong’s fact-finding team said in a statement. ●
