KARAPATAN to Esperon, NTF-ELCAC: Stop judicial harassment vs leaders of KARAPATAN, Gabriela and RMP
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KARAPATAN Public Information
Dec 11, 2025, 8:03:14 PMDec 11
to karapatan...@googlegroups.com, KARAPATAN Human Rights Update on behalf of publicinfo, karapatanhr
PRESS RELEASE
December 12, 2025
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN to Esperon, NTF-ELCAC: Stop judicial harassment vs leaders of KARAPATAN, Gabriela and RMP
Enough already.
Thus said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed and to former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon after the Court of Appeals upheld the acquittal from trumped-up perjury charges of national officers of KARAPATAN, Gabriela and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines. The decision, promulgated on November 14, but was received by KARAPATAN’s legal counsels from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on December 9, 2025.
The leaders of KARAPATAN, which includes Palabay, Elisa Tita Lubi, Edita Burgos, Roneo Clamor, Fr. Wilfredo Ruazol, Gabriela Krista Dalena, and Jose Mari Callueng, and of the two organizations were acquitted by the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 in January 2023 after a full-blown trial that spanned more than three years.
Esperon had filed the perjury case in 2019 in retaliation for being impleaded in a petition for a writ of amparo filed by the three organizations that same year. The NTF-ELCAC supported Esperon in this case.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the finality of acquittal can only be legitimately challenged if it can be proven that the prosecution was not given due process, which is not the case here, said Palabay.
"Esperon and the NTF-ELCAC has assailed our acquittal four times now, and he has been defeated at every turn," said Palabay. "They should stop wasting the courts' time and taxpayers' money with Esperon’s frivolous appeals. Tirang pikon lang talaga ito from a sore loser."
*Copy of the Court of Appeals decision will be made available upon request.
Enough already.
Thus said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed and to former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon after the Court of Appeals upheld the acquittal from trumped-up perjury charges of national officers of KARAPATAN, Gabriela and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines. The decision, promulgated on November 14, but was received by KARAPATAN’s legal counsels from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on December 9, 2025.
The leaders of KARAPATAN, which includes Palabay, Elisa Tita Lubi, Edita Burgos, Roneo Clamor, Fr. Wilfredo Ruazol, Gabriela Krista Dalena, and Jose Mari Callueng, and of the two organizations were acquitted by the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 139 in January 2023 after a full-blown trial that spanned more than three years.
Esperon had filed the perjury case in 2019 in retaliation for being impleaded in a petition for a writ of amparo filed by the three organizations that same year. The NTF-ELCAC supported Esperon in this case.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the finality of acquittal can only be legitimately challenged if it can be proven that the prosecution was not given due process, which is not the case here, said Palabay.
"Esperon and the NTF-ELCAC has assailed our acquittal four times now, and he has been defeated at every turn," said Palabay. "They should stop wasting the courts' time and taxpayers' money with Esperon’s frivolous appeals. Tirang pikon lang talaga ito from a sore loser."
*Copy of the Court of Appeals decision will be made available upon request.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.
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