KIKO LAUDS SC FOR ISSUING WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
FOR TWO MISSING UP STUDENTS

After calling on authorities to hasten investigations on the alleged abduction of two UP students, Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan today lauded the Supreme Court for ordering the military, through a writ of habeas corpus, the presentation of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeo before the courts.

We commend the Supreme Courts intervention on the case of the two missing UP students. We have said before that there is no place for unlawful seizures in a democracy and that regardless of our political inclination, we are all accorded equal protection of the law. I am glad that the high court has acted decisively to uphold this reminder. The SC order is a victory for human rights and the rule of law, Kiko said.

We also hope that the military, particularly the men of Gen. Romeo Tolentino and Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, will be able to address the SCs order accordingly. The spate of aggressions against alleged leftist characters has debilitated the credibility of our armed forces tremendously. The underlying thought here is that whether or not military elements are involved in extrajudicial attacks, it is their duty to ensure that these attacks to the rule of law are thwarted permanently, Kiko ended.