Former “Eat Bulaga” talent Sugar Mercado filed before the Supreme Court (SC) a petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent prayer for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against her estranged husband Kristoffer Jay Go.
Mercado filed the petition after her husband filed several suits against her that she describes as “harassment cases.”
Among the cases filed against Mercado are child abuse, libel and slight physical injury which Mercado, with the assistance of women’s group Gabriela, called strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) which are meant to intimidate petitioners like her and prevent them from seeking legal remedy.
Gabriela, in a statement, said they stand with Sugar Mercado and all women who are victims of violence and asked the SC to draw the line and grant protection to harassed and abused women and stop SLAPP cases against them.
The women’s group also said the filing of harassment cases against victims of violence like Mercado “debases the very essence of Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act” adding that victims are victimized several times under the current system.
They also requested the review of the Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) law which they observed as insufficient in protecting the rights of the abused and further cited the rights given by the SC to environmental advocates in facing charges against them.
Aside from Gabriela, Mercado was accompanied by her parents Reynaldo and Yolanda Mercado. Respondents to her petition were Kristoffer Jay Go, Kenneth Roue Go, Casey Lim Jimenez, Christina Palileo, Ruel Balino, the four Quezon City courts handling the cases, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, 2nd, and Quezon City Chief Prosecutor Donald Lee.