SC issues first writ of amparo for missing UP studes

The Supreme Court (SC) issued yesterday the country’s first writ of amparo in response to a petition filed for two missing students of the University of the Philippines (UP) and two brothers who claimed they escaped from military personnel who abducted them.

The SC ordered President Arroyo, the military and the police to answer the accusations that they were involved in the abduction of student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno, whose mothers filed the petition, and brothers Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo.

The high court told the respondents to submit their responses to the Court of Appeals and set the hearings on Nov. 8.

The SC said it has to hear the side of the respondents before deciding whether to grant a request of the mothers of the two UP students to order the inspection of military camps in Luzon.

The mothers asked the SC to allow the inspection of Camp Tecson in Bulacan, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija and a camp in Limay, Bataan.

The Manalo brothers said they saw the two UP students in the three camps during their 18-month detention. They escaped their military captors last August.

The Manalos asked the SC to stop the military from arresting them, but later asked the court to convert their petition into a writ of amparo.

SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the high court did not grant the Manalos’ petition for a protection order because the court does not yet have a list of accredited sanctuaries.

He said the court will hear the Manalos’ case first before making a decision.