Karapatan-Southern Tagalog (ST) condemned the Puerto Princesa Regional Trial Court Branch 51 and Brooke’s Point RTC Branch 165 for handing down a guilty verdict to six human rights defenders in a case involving illegal possession of explosives and explosive devices and rebellion. The group stated that the life imprisonment sentence for the six is a deliberate miscarriage of justice.

The activists, part of the Palawan 7, were arrested on October 4, 2019, at a checkpoint in Sitio Anilawan, Barangay Babuyan, Puerto Princesa City. The seven arrested were KASAMA-Timog Katagalugan organizer Antonio Molina; indigenous Palaw’ans Bener Rimbunan and Awing Lumpat; former Karapatan-ST secretary general Glendhyl Malabanan; Karapatan-ST staff members Ronces Paraguso and Jenny Bautista; and Pamalakaya-Palawan organizer Joemelito Tanilon.

According to Karapatan-ST, Malabanan was returning from a fact-finding mission in the town of Taytay after receiving complaints about military harassment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Command. The group had already insisted that the arrests were illegal because the warrant used by the arresting officers was in the name of a “Domingo Ritas,” whom they identified as Molina.

Paraguso was found guilty of rebellion on December 6, while all six were found guilty of illegal possession of explosives on December 12. Karapatan-ST condemned the court’s decision, which relied on the “presumption of regularity” despite irregularities in the arrest, detention, and other legal processes the police and state forces conducted.

“The decision is not only a miscarriage of justice for the victims but also a tragic denial of justice for Molina, who passed away in 2021 while languishing in jail,” stated Karapatan-ST. The 67-year-old Molina died of a heart attack while in custody. He had Stage 4 malignant abdominal cancer but the courts repeatedly denied his release on humanitarian grounds.

For Karapatan-ST, after five years of suffering, the court’s decision fails to hold the true criminals accountable for the illegal arrest and detention of the Palawan 7. Following the gross injustice, the group has called for a comprehensive review of the Palawan 7 case to overturn the court’s decision.

The Palawan 7 are planning to appeal their case. Karapatan-ST has also called for the dismissal of other cases filed against the victims and their immediate release.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Front (NDF)-Palawan has also condemned the reactionary court for its conviction of the Palawan 6. “The unjust conviction of the Palawan 6 once again proves the extreme corruption and anti-people nature of the reactionary justice system in the Philippines,” spokesperson Leona Paragua stated.

She added that the Palaweño people should support the struggle of the Palawan 6 and other political detainees. “On the other hand, the public should not rely solely on the bourgeois court system, which is clearly anti-people and serves the interests of the ruling class and imperialism, to achieve justice for the Palawan 6,” she further stated.