Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 22) — Detained Senator Leila de Lima failed to secure a petition for writ of habeas data, a legal remedy that was supposed to protect her from President Rodrigo Duterte's threats and verbal attacks.
The Supreme Court sitting en banc on October 15, 2019, dismissed De Lima's request on the ground that Duterte is immune from any suit while he's President of the country. The order signed by then Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin and concurred by all the 13 justices present was released only on Wednesday.
The justices agreed that while De Lima claims she was not seeking to hold Duterte administratively, civilly, or criminally liable, her petition contained allegations that the President violated her right to life, liberty, and security – actions that violate the Magna Carta for Women and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
"[I]t will be impossible for the Court to enable her cause of action to be established without first determining whether or not said laws, which carry penal sanctions, had been violated," the high court ruled.
In her petition filed just months after Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016, De Lima said the President should refrain from making public statements that "malign her as a woman and degrade her dignity as a human being."
She called out Duterte for accusing her of involvement in corruption and illegal drugs, and of immorality as the President repeatedly alleged she was having a romantic affair with her married driver. De Lima wanted Duterte and his officials to stop collecting information about her private life, and to disclose details about the foreign country that Duterte said was helping him listen in on her. She also wants these information deleted, destroyed, or rectified.
De Lima said these attacks began after her privilege speech in August 2016 calling for an end to alleged extrajudicial killings in Duterte's war on drugs.
The Office of the Solicitor General, as the government's top lawyer, asked the Supreme Court to immediately dismiss the case filed by De Lima, arguing that the President's immunity from suit should be absolute.
De Lima has been detained since 2017 on drug charges, which she and human rights groups believe are fabricated cases meant to silence her for being a staunch critic of the Duterte administration and the bloody war on drugs.
Malacañang has repeatedly denied retaliating against De Lima, stressing that her drug charges are being tried by the country's independent courts, and that the constitutionality of her arrest and detention has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
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This article first appeared on CNN Philippines.
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