Lawmakers Urge ASEAN Gov'ts To Stop Using 'Lawfare' vs Critics

The Philippines, as well as other ASEAN member states, must immediately halt the use of judicial harassment and politically-motivated charges against critics and political opponents, a phenomenon known as ‘lawfare’, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said during a press briefing in Manila.

Photo Insert: There have been many other victims of lawfare in the Philippines, including Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch opponent of then-President Rodrigo Duterte, who was arrested in February 2017 on trumped-up drug charges.

“We call on Southeast Asian authorities to stop abusing the legal system to stifle dissent and urge ASEAN to reprimand member states that continue to use lawfare to attack political opposition. The Philippine government can take the first step by dropping all charges against Walden Bello and immediately releasing Senator Leila de Lima and any others that have been unjustly detained due to politically-motivated charges,” said Mercy Barends, Chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and member of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

The press conference, titled “Stop Lawfare! No to the Weaponization of the Law and State-sponsored Violence,” was organized by APHR and the Walden Bello Legal Defense Committee, in solidarity with Walden Bello, an APHR Board Member and former Member of Parliament in the Philippines.

Bello is facing politically-motivated charges of cyber-libel brought by a former Davao City information officer who now works as chief of the Media and Public Relations Division of the Office of the Vice President, Sara Duterte.

There have been many other victims of lawfare in the Philippines, including Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested in February 2017 on trumped-up drug charges, shortly after she had launched a Senate investigation into the extrajudicial killings committed under the Duterte administration.

She has remained in detention ever since, still waiting for her trial, despite the fact that several key witnesses have recanted their testimonies.

Broadcaster Waldy Carbonell has also been slapped with seven cyber-libel cases by a former Ilocos Norte mayor who has been promoted by President Bongbong Marcos to head the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

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