NUPL only ‘added burden,’ 2 Aetas accused of terrorism say

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 11, 2021): NUPL only ‘added burden,’ 2 Aetas accused of terrorism say (By Marita Moaje)

NUPL DROPPED. Aetas Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos say they are dropping the National Union of People’s Lawyers as their legal counsel in the terrorism charges filed against them. In an online press conference on Feb. 10, Gurung and Ramos said they want the Public Attorney’s Office and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to represent them instead. (Screengrab)

The two Aetas accused of terrorism and allegedly sought to intervene in the Anti-terror Law petitions before the Supreme Court said the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) only “added burden” to their cases, as they dropped the lawyer’s group as their legal counsel.

In an online press conference on Wednesday, brothers-in-law Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos said they already decided that they do not want the NUPL to talk to them, adding that they want the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to represent them instead.

“Ang pakiramdam yung parang sila, ang NUPL, yung pabigat sa mga kaso na dinadala namin kaya naisipan naming na mag ano nalang kami sa PAO at saka sa NCIP, na magpa-abogado na lang po kami sa PAO na lang po (We feel that the NUPL just adds to the burden in our case and so we decided that we want PAO and NCIP to represent us),” Ramos said.

NUPL earlier claimed it has been representing Gurung and Ramos since September 2020.

It added that it neither forced nor coerced the two members of the indigenous peoples (IPs) group in choosing them to be their lawyer and even in signing the petition for intervention against the Anti-Terrorism Law filed before the High Court.

Gurung and Ramos, however, said otherwise during the media briefing.

Gurung said when they were jailed, they were confused and did not know what to do at the time.

He added that on the day that he signed the petition, he actually did not want to sign the papers.

Ramos and Gurung said NUPL was so insistent and that they would come to jail to convince them.

Gurung added that the NUPL even talked to her mother, who was then trying to avoid them.

“Alam kasi ng magulang ko na nakakulong ako, ginagawa nila, binabalik-balikan nila para, sabi nila sa magulang ko na tulungan mo kami para maano natin yung anak mo. Sabi ko sa nanay ko pag pumunta sila dyan wag ka na magpakita, sabihin mo na nasa bundok ka kasi meron naman tumutulong sa atin na gobyerno na galing sa NCIP at PAO. Ginawa ng nanay ko hindi na rin siya nagpakita (My parents know that I was in jail, what they did was they kept coming. I told my mother not to show up when they return, to tell them that she is in the mountain, because NCIP and PAO are already helping us. So my mother eventually avoided them),” Gurung said.

However, when he still refused to sign, Gurung said he was told that they will rot in jail.

“Nung ayaw ko pong pumirma sir ang sabi sa akin na kung ayaw mong pumirma eh mabubulok ka sa bilangguan. Ang pag-iisip ko nun dahil ganun na yung pagtingin ko, pumirma ako (When I refused to sign, they told me that if I do not sign, I will never go out of jail. That’s why I signed),” he said.

On Tuesday, Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta said the SC, in a unanimous decision, denied the petition for intervention of Gurung and Ramos in the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Peralta made the announcement after Solicitor General Jose Calida informed them that the Aetas have withdrawn their petition.

Calida said the two Aetas were only forced to sign the 42-page petition against the anti-terror law.

In a joint affidavit executed by Gurung and Ramos, they said they signed the petition “with full hesitation and out of pure sheer annoyance” because of the persistence of the NUPL.

“After signing, they gave us PHP1,000 as aid. We will divide the amount accordingly so we have PHP500 each,” the joint affidavit on the withdrawal of their petition reads.

Petition not explained

Gurung and Ramos claimed that they do not truly understand what a petition for intervention is, claiming it was not properly explained to them.

Ramos said they were not aware that the petition they signed will be filed before the Supreme Court and will be used in the petition to junk the anti-terror law.

“Kaya nga ako pumirma kasi pabalik-balik na sila dito sa bilangguan, binabalik-balikan nila kami para papirmahin du’n sa papel. Di namin alam na ganu’n ang nilalaman yung papel na pinirmahan namin na mag fa-file sila sa ano (I signed because they kept coming back for us to sign the papers. We did not know that it will be filed),” Ramos said.

“Nagulat din kami nung nalaman namin na ganun yung laman ng papel na pinapirmahan sa akin at sa bayaw ko (We were surprised when we learned about the content of the papers we signed),” he added.

Ramos added that he does not remember the names of the lawyers who made them sign the papers, but that they left them their calling cards.

Lawyer Marlon Bosantog, NCIP legal affairs office chief, asked that the names be given to them so they could file a disbarment against the said NUPL lawyers.

“Yung ginawa nila sa inyo nakakasira sa mga abogado na dapat sana kami ay tumutulong. Nakakasira sa propesyon namin yan kaya gusto ko mag file ng disbarment (What they did to you is damaging to the law profession because we should be the ones helping. That is why I intend to file a disbarment case),” Bosantog said.

In a social media post, he quoted the Code of Professional Responsibility of lawyers, which states that a lawyer, among others, should “uphold the constitution, obey the laws of the land and promote respect for law and legal processes.”

Bosantog assured Gurung and Ramos that NCIP will do what it can to help them with the case.

He added that the office will assist their families in San Marcelino, Zambales and help the IPs in the area.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1130425