Judge junks amparo plea of Raymart, Claudine

Manila, Philippines -  A Quezon City judge has junked the petition for the issuance of a writ of amparo filed by couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto against the Tulfo brothers, saying their case was not covered by the writ.

Judge Maria Filomena Singh of the Regional Trial Court Branch 219 said the rules on the writ of amparo state that “only extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances are proper subjects of a petition.”

In the order dated Aug. 6, Singh dismissed the petition and dissolved the temporary protective order issued on May 24 by Judge Bayani Vargas, who retired in July. The court ruling upheld a point earlier raised by broadcaster Erwin Tulfo’s counsel, Nelson Borja, who argued that the writ of amparo covered only cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

The couple filed the petition after brothers Raffy, Ben and Erwin Tulfo allegedly threatened them on their television program “T3” on TV5 following an airport brawl that involved the couple and the respondents’ elder brother, columnist Mon Tulfo.

In their petition, the couple asked to be assigned police escorts and asked for a court order to compel the Tulfos to “cease and desist from further threatening the life, liberty and security of the petitioners and their family.”

In May, Vargas issued a temporary protection order barring the Tulfo brothers from getting within 500 meters away from the couple while the main case was being heard.

Borja sought the dismissal of the petition, asking the court to “take a second look” at it. He said the doctrines cited by the Santiago couple covered human rights abuses, while the charges against the Tulfo brothers were “just plain and simple cases of alleged threats and oral defamation.” He added that his client, Erwin, had already issued a public apology.