Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday met with eight women farmers who claim to have been slapped with unfounded trumped-up charges for pressing their rights in a land rights case in Hermosa town, Bataan province.
"Yung hinaing lang nila na mga kaso na ginagawa, yung weaponization ng batas. Matagal na naming pinaglalaban yan eh. Sinasabi ko nga, the law should not be used as a weapon to make people settle disputes. Hindi dapat ginagamit yung ganoong mga kaso laban sa mga, sa mga labanan o mga dispute na pwede namang daanin sa Korte (Their complaint was about the law is being weaponized. I have long advocated against that. And I have said in the past that the law should not be misused against other people in disputes)," Remulla said after meeting with the women.
"Ang ginagawa nila, ang DOJ ang ginagamit nila para manggipit ng tao. Kaya ang sabi ko lang, eh pag-aaralan namin yung mga kaso na ipapataw sa mga tao na para sila'y palambutin. Yan ang trabaho namin talaga dito, mag dispense ng hustisya. Iaayos natin na just ang pagtingin sa lahat (People use the DOJ to gain leverage over persons. So I assured them we would study the cases to be slapped against them which should be mitigated. That is what we must do, dispense justice. We assure that every thing will be just)," .
Remulla said the department will study the charges and subsequently make a ruling. "The law should not be weaponized to make people surrender to many of the whims or demands of other people," he said.
The eight women farmers -- four of whom are senior citizens aged 72, 69, 68, and 61 years old -- surrendered themselves after they were charged with syndicated estafa, a non bailable case.
The bulk of the cases were mostly filed by the Riverforest Development Corporation (RDC) which is claiming ownership over 214 hectares of land in Barangay Sumalo.
Militant group iDefend spokesperson Judy Pasimio said her group welcomes the assurance made by the DOJ chief that the department will look into the trumped up criminal charges.
Source: Philippines News Agency