Tindig Pilipinas: SC failed nation in its 'darkest hour' in denying De Lima petition

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has failed the nation in its darkest hour, according to Tindig Pilipinas, as it expressed shock over the decision of the court to dismiss the petition of Sen. Leila De Lima questioning her arrest and detention.

Tindig Pilipinas said that the decision of nine justices, which it believed "overlooked" the violations of the rights of the senator, contributed to the decay of the system of checks and balances in the country.

"#TindigPiliponas is appalled at the Supreme Court decision dismissing Sen. Leila De Lima's petition questioning her arrest and continued detention," said the coalition of cause-oriented groups and individuals which was formed to express outrage of over the climbing number of extrajudicial killings in the country just weeks ago.

According to the group, it was clear De Lima, one of the fiercest critics of President Rodrigo Duterte, was a "victim of political vendetta" based on the circumstances of De Lima's arrest, the charges filed against her and the "spurious" evidence presented to indict her.

It said that De Lima was detained on allegations of involvement in the illegal drug trade because she dared to question the government over the extrajudicial killings linked to Duterte when he was still mayor of Davao City and now that he is already the chief executive.

"Scores of individuals and organizations including numerous parliamentarians from all over the world, regional and international formations, organizations and alliances, and the international human rights community have repeatedly noted that Senator De Lima is a prisoner of conscience and called for her immediate release," it said in a statement.

The alliance assured the senator that she was not alone in her fight and called on Filipinos to protest what they deemed as an "unconscionable decision."

The erstwhile ruling Liberal Party also criticized the decision, and said that this would pave the way for the wrong court to hear the charges against De Lima.

"We cannot have the wrong court trying and handling the fate of a case," the LP said.

De Lima has maintained that the Sandiganbayan has jurisdiction over her cases since her compensation level is higher than salary grade 26.

She argued that based on a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Justice and the ombudsman, officials with salary grade 26 or higher would be tried in the anti-graft court.

The DOJ has rejected this argument and insisted that drug cases should be heard before it.

Voting 9-6, the SC ruled that the Muntinlupa courts handling De Lima's cases had jurisdiction over them, paving the way for the proceedings to continue.

The LP said that De Lima would file a motion for reconsideration to reverse the ruling.

De Lima was arrested in February based on allegations that she benefitted from the illegal drugs trade at the national penitentiary during her time as Justice secretary of the previous Aquino administration.

The DOJ said that she used the money from this to fund her campaign for a Senate seat last year.