Over 500 days have passed since Benigno Aquino III assumed the presidency on a pro-change platform – but families of victims of extrajudicial killings have been made to wait and to wait longer for presidential action needed to spur decisive action by government.
The administration has not done anything meaningful to address the political killings that were an indelible mark on the previous administration. A few statements in speeches, yes. But compelling action, nada.
The National Union of People’s Lawyers, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. and this blogger today went to the Supreme Court to file “A Very Urgent Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with Very Urgent Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction” at the Supreme Court.
Docketed as G.R. 190301, the petition asks the Court to nullify Proclamation 1959 on two grounds:
Here is the full text of the petition:
This is a second tragedy in two weeks: First, a massacre of at least 57 innocent civilians. Now, a massacre of the Constitution and everything we supposed to have learned from martial law.
President Arroyo’s Proclamation 1959 is obviously unconstitutional: There is no invasion or rebellion to warrant martial law. What we have is transparent incompetence on the part of law enforcers to enforce the law, to rein in the suspected brains and masterminds of the November 23 massacre and to restore and maintain peace and order and the rule of law in Maguindanao.
The nation is still in a state of shock over the grisly Maguindanao massacre. With the Arroyo government dragging its feet even in the face of nationwide and international uproar, several groups and individuals met over the weekend and formed the November 23 Movement.
Below is their joint statement which they hope would be published in newspapers across the country on Dec. 1: