Court upholds acquittal of 10 activists

MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City court has dismissed a petition for review filed by National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and his predecessor, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., which sought to overturn a decision acquitting 10 activists of perjury.

In a 12-page decision dated Nov. 17, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Branch 84 Judge Luisito Cortez upheld that Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 Judge Aimee Marie Alcera “objectively and independently evaluated all the evidence and the parties and finds the prosecution’s pieces of evidence fall short in presenting its cause for conviction beyond reasonable doubt.”

Año and Esperon filed the petition in response to Alcera’s decision on Jan. 9, acquitting the activists.

In his ruling, Cortez said Año and Esperon “failed to allege material facts constitutive of such ill will or acted in a whimsical manner in deciding the cases.”

Those acquitted were seven members of rights group Karapatan, two officers of Gabriela and a member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, who was among the respondents, said the perjury charges were filed by Esperon in 2019, adding that it was a retaliatory measure after he was impleaded in their prayer for a writ of amparo due to threats and attacks against human rights defenders.