The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the cases of Mr. Saturniño Ocampo, Mr. Teodoro Casiño, Ms. Liza Maza and Mr. Rafael Mariano (the so-called Batasan Four), incumbent members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines at the time the communication was submitted, and to the resolution it adopted at its 190th session (April 2012),

Taking into account the information provided by a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Neri Colmenares, on 21 October 2012 and the letter from the Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Special Affairs Bureau of the House of Representatives, dated 4 October 2012,

Recalling that the persons concerned were, along with others, prosecuted on a charge of rebellion that was dismissed in June 2007 by the Supreme Court of the Philippines as unfounded and politically motivated, and that soon after the case was dismissed, new charges were laid against them and have been pending ever since, as follows:

• Multiple murder charges were brought against the Batasan Four in 2007; one of these charges (of murder with kidnapping) was dismissed on account of inadmissible evidence (extrajudicially obtained confessions); the prosecutor proceeded with the other charges although they are based on the same inadmissible evidence; a challenge brought by the Batasan Four on the grounds of grave abuse of discretion has been pending before the Supreme Court since March 2009;

• A new charge of murder was brought against Mr. Ocampo in 2007, and his petition to have the case dismissed for lack of evidence remains pending before the Supreme Court (Leyte murder case);

• A charge of obstructing justice was brought against Mr. Casiño in May 2007 on the grounds that he had prevented an arrest; Mr. Casiño affirms that he prevented plainclothes armed police from arresting someone without an arrest warrant; the case is still awaiting resolution by the prosecutor;

• A multiple murder charge, concerning cases already dealt with in the context of the rebellion case, was brought against Mr. Ocampo in March 2008; the proceedings have been suspended pending the decision of the Supreme Court in the Leyte murder case;

• A charge of abduction (following a petition for a writ of amparo) filed against Mr. Ocampo in March 2008 before the Regional Trial Court of Basey, Western Samar, is pending; according to the source, the charge is factually and legally baseless; the trial was scheduled to start with the initial presentation of petitioner’s evidence on 23 June 2011; the petitioner and his lawyer did not appear, however, and the court therefore ordered that the case be archived; the petitioner appeared on 24 June 2011, with his lawyer; upon a motion by the petitioner’s lawyer, the court granted them time to file a formal motion for reconsideration of the order archiving the case; the respondent was given time to file comments on the petitioner’s motion for reconsideration; the court set the next hearing for 16 September 2011, should it be necessary to proceed with the case; the presentation of a second witness for the petitioner was supposed to take place on 24 February 2012,

Considering that, according to the information provided by Mr. Colmenares, the charge of obstructing justice against Mr. Casiño was dismissed on 13 March 2012 and the Secretary of Justice has informed Mr. Colmenares that her department is considering withdrawing any opposition to the petitions brought by the Batasan Four before the Supreme Court,

1. Thanks Mr. Colmenares and the Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Special Affairs Bureau for their information and cooperation;

2. Is pleased that the authorities have finally taken a decision in the case concerning Mr. Casiño and that the Secretary of Justice has expressed her willingness to help expedite proceedings in the pending murder cases; sincerely hopes that, as a result of her stated intention to withdraw all Justice Department opposition in these cases, the Supreme Court will soon be able to close them; wishes to be kept informed in this regard;

3. Trusts that the only remaining case, concerning the petition for a writ of amparo against Mr. Ocampo, which has been pending for four and a half years, will also soon be wound up; wishes to kept informed in this regard and to know if a time-table has been established to this effect;

4. Requests the Secretary General to forward this resolution to the parliamentary authorities, to the Secretary of Justice and to the National Human Rights Commission;

5. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and to report back to it in due course.

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