Human rights workers charged with perjury over Esperon complaint

Ten human rights workers have been charged with perjury over allegations made by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr.

The Quezon City prosecutor's office has filed a perjury case against officers of Karapatan, Gabriela, and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) for allegedly claiming in a court filing last year that RMP was duly registered despite the revocation of its registration in 2003.

Issued last February 24, the indictment is a modification of a previous resolution in which the officers were cleared and only Sister Elenita Belardo, the 80-year-old leader of RMP, was recommended charged.

Belardo posted bail last December.

Esperon was one of the respondents in Karapatan, Gabriela, and RMP's petition for court protection that the Court of Appeals denied last year. The groups claimed that state forces have been targeting attacks toward their members, but the CA said it found no substantial evidence to back the allegations.

In a separate complaint, Esperon accused the groups' officers of falsely claiming in the amparo petition that RMP is a duly registered corporation.

After Belardo's indictment, Esperon filed a motion for reconsideration, challenging the dismissal of his complaint against the rest of the respondents.

Granting Esperon's motion, City Prosecutor Vimar Barcellano found probable cause to indict Karapatan national officers Elisa Tita Lubi, Cristina Palabay, Roneo Clamor, Gabriela Krista Dalena, Edita Burgos, Wilfredo Ruazol, and Jose Mari Callueng; Gabriela officers Gertrudes Ranjo Libang and Joan May Salvador; and RMP's Emma Cupin.

The complaint against Karapatan's Reylan Vergara was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

The recommended bail was P18,000.

In the resolution, the prosecutor said that the respondents "failed to rebut the evidence that to date, the Certificate of Registration of RMP remains revoked."

"In fine, all the respondents cannot feign ignorance about the falsehood willfully stated in their Verification/Certification as to the unregistered status of RMP," Barcellano wrote.

"As to their claim of good faith, the issue of whether they acted in good faith is best determined, however, during the trial proper."

Nine of the 10 defendants posted bail on Tuesday. Palabay, Karapatan's secretary general, said she is currently doing advocacy work at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and will post bail when she returns to the country.

"This malicious, baseless and utterly absurd perjury charge is yet another proof of the closing civic and democratic space in the Philippines," Palabay said in a statement Wednesday. 

"It is ironic that this case has been revived from its earlier dismissal, amid Karapatan’s continuing advocacy work in the Philippines and at the UN HRC and our persistent efforts to pursue a just and lasting peace," she said.—AOL, GMA News