MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — Senator Leila de Lima on Monday morning, November 7 filed a Petition for the Writ of Habeas Data against President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s administration before the Supreme Court of the Philippines questioning the alleged invasion of her rights to privacy.
De Lima was accompanied by a group of women and supporters.
According to Sen. De Lima, this is a test case, of whether the alleged attacks on her person are violations of her right to privacy.
“This is a test case, this is a novel case of transcendental importance. Ang pinakatanong dito, puwede bang ang isang nakaupong Pangulo ay gamitin ang kaniyang opisina, ang kaniyang kapangyarihan bilang Pangulo para magsagawa ng isang personal vendetta laban sa isang tao, laban sa isang babae sa pamamagitan ng ilegal na pangongolekta ng impormasyon tungkol sa pribadong buhay ng isang babae na ‘yan,” De Lima said.
Aside from her petition, De Lima also submitted a compact disc containing audio recordings and videos of Duterte’s personal and verbal attacks against her in public.
In her petition for habeas data, De Lima claimed that the president has repeatedly subjected her to “crude personal attacks” involving the publication of her alleged private affairs.
In a press conference after submitting the petition before the Supreme Court, Sen. De Lima said “ang paglapit ko po sa Korte Suprema ay para iwaksi ang demonyo. Ang ginawa niyang panlilibak sa akin ay hindi dapat magamit para ilihis ang atensyon sa nagaganap na patayan at paglabag sa karapatang pantao.”
She asked the high court to stop Duterte and his men from gathering personal information about her private life.
The lady senator said the discriminate remarks against her “constitute psychological violence prohibited by Republic Act 9710 or the magna carta of women.”
She added that the personal attacks against her also violated the code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees.
The writ of habeas data ” is a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party.” This is based on the rules on the Writ of Habeas Data, Section 1, 2008.