MANILA, Philippines (Updated 8:03 p.m.) — The Court of Appeals has upheld the voiding of search warrants that led to the arrests in December 2020 of journalist Lady Ann Salem and trade unionist Rodrigo Esparago saying it was "proper and just" because they were based on "inconsistent and contradictory" testimony.
The CA’s Twelfth Division dismissed the government’s petition for certiorari and affirmed the orders of the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 209 dated Feb. 5 and March 5, 2021.
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The February order junked the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against Salem and Esparago, while the court in March 2021, ordered their release.
The appeals court said that informant Kharl Geronimo and Patrolman Ernie Ambuyoc claimed to have observed Salem and Esparago engaged in gunrunning activities, but that "their failture to provide clear and consistent testimonies regarding material information" on transactions they supposedly witnessed "significantly erodes the credibility of thjeir testimonies to which the search warrants were based."
Among the inconsistencies were on what kind of bag firearms were supposedly transported in and who the guns were delivered to — Geronimo said it was to a man and a woman while Ambuyoc said it was to two women.
Geronimo also claimed to have transacted with the two from May to October 2020 when the condominium unit that Salem and Esparago supposedly used for gunrunning was only rented starting October 23 of that year. The unit had been rented as a base of operations for alternative news outlet Manila Today, where Salem was an editor.
The CA ruled that the inconsistencies meant that probable cause for the warrants was not properly established.
Improper search
It also said that the warrants issued did not specify enough what police officers were searching for and what to take as evidence.
"The act of the searching officers in taking all the laptops and cellphones that they could get during the search is precisely the danger sought to be prevented by the constitutional requirements that the things to be seized must be particularly described," it said as it pointed out that police witnesses should have noticed details about the laptops and phones since they claimed to have spent time in the one-bedroom condominium unit.
Police also seized items not included in the warrant and that "do not bear direct relation to the offenses for which the search warrants were issued," the CA noted.
Salem and Esparago were also not able to witness the search of the condominium unit. The "presumption of regularity in the performance of duty cannot overcome the stronger presumption of innocence in favor of the accused," the CA reminded prosecutors.
'Charges founded on deceit'
In a statement, the Public Interest Law Center welcomed the CA's decision.
"Our clients lost time, opportunities and peace of mind with these charges that turned out to be founded on deceit," they said.
"This case is a classic example of a heavy hand in a colored political context — Salem was a member of the alternative press tagged for being a critic of government — but has also paved way for the judiciary to showcase its fairness and independence."
Salem, Esparago and five other activists were all arrested on Dec. 10, 2020 while the world marked International Human Rights Day. Their arrest stemmed from the search warrants issued by Quezon City trial court Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert.
The authority that allowed Burgos-Villavert to issue what activists called "roving warrants" has since been clipped by the Supreme Court, following mounting pressure for the Judiciary to put safeguards on laws and rules that have been weaponized against dissenters and even rights defenders.
PILC said that others arrested in the Human Rights Day raids — Romina Astudillo, Mark Ryan Cruz, Jaymie Gregorio Jr and Joel Demate — "whose arrests were one the basis of the same evidence as Salem's" remain in government custody.
"We support the release of all other political prisoners taken to jail on false charges, and warn against the taking of anymore," PILC also said.