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By Nora O. Gamolo, Senior Desk Editor
An urban-poor leader filed a petition for the
writ of amparo at the Court of Appeals, asking for a temporary
protection order and for authorities to produce documents that led
to her allegedly illegal detention.
Lourdes Rubrico, 63, known to friends as Nanay
Ude, made the petition, but was denied by the appellate court.
The court said the respondents must first
receive their copies of their subpoenas and complaint filed by
Rubrico.
Rubrico claims she was abducted by military men
on April 3, 2007, in Dasmariñas, Cavite, where she joined a
religious activity. The abductors were three tall men in
short-sleeved polo shirts and armed with .45-caliber pistols.
In her complaint, Rubrico claimed that she was
brought to a military camp where she experienced psychological
torture inflicted by several military officers who did not bother to
hide their identities.
On April 10, 2007, she was released and warned
not to talk about her detention.
Rubrico supposedly earned the attention of the
military for her involvement in antigovernment organizations, such
as the Cavite Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace where she
sits as trustee; and Bayan Muna, of which she is a barangay
coordinator.
None of the respondents, which include President
Gloria Arroyo and top military and police officials, were at the
hearing, prompting the court to make sure that they will be served
their respective subpoenas and copies of the complaint.
During the hearing, Assistant Solicitor General
Amparo Tang moved that the President’s name be dropped as a
respondent, because of impropriety and the immunity of the chief
executive from lawsuits while in office.
A week ago, human-rights advocates had expressed
hopes in their amparo petitions, with the surfacing of a church
youth leader in Mindanao after a court granted a writ of amparo.
In a statement, Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Karapatan
secretary-general, said in the case of 63-year-old woman, “[The
court’ is being challenged to protect Lourdes Rubrico, an urban
poor woman leader and a senior citizen who lived through abduction,
illegal arrest and being held incommunicado.”
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