Supreme Court junks petition accusing Anakbayan of coercing teenager

The Supreme Court (SC) has rejected a petition accusing activists of coercing a 19-year-old into joining their group.

The court dismissed the petition for the issuance of the writs of amparo and habeas corpus filed by the parents of student Alicia Lucena. Spouses Francis and Relissa Lucena had claimed that Anakbayan had "radicalized and indoctrinated" their daughter, leading to her disappearance.

Alicia herself said in August 2019 that she was not missing or kidnapped, having joined the organization on her own.

The SC agreed, saying, according to its Public Information Office (PIO), that Alicia "is not missing and her whereabouts are determinable and is staying with Anakbayan and its officers."

Because Alicia's location is known, the SC said her parents' case does not qualify as an actual or threatened enforced disappearance or extralegal killing, which are the incidents covered by the extraordinary remedy of amparo.

The court also said that it did not appear that Alicia had been deprived of liberty or that her parents had been excluded from having custody over her.

"The petitioners, the Court said, failed to make a case that AJ is being detained or is being kept by the Anakbayan against her free will," the SC PIO said.

"Since the petitioner’s daughter has already attained the age of majority, which is 18-years old, [Alicia], in the eyes of the State, has earned the right to make independent choices with respect to the places where she wants to stay, as well as to the persons whose company she wants to keep," it added.

In all, the court ruled that the issuance of the writ of amparo is "not proper" and that the request for the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus "lacks merit."

The September 15 decision, penned by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, has not yet been released.

The case on Alicia's alleged disappearance began in August last year, when her mother told senators that her daughter had been kidnapped.

Alicia, on the other hand, said she voluntarily joined Anakbayan and that she stayed away from home due to family issues over her membership in the group.

Her mother's allegation led to the filing of kidnapping and trafficking complaints against Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Elago, Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares, former Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin, and other Anakbayan members.

The complaints were submitted for resolution as of November 2019. — RSJ, GMA News