A lawyers group scored the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) denying the plea for protection of environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, where it ruled that they were unable to show proof that government agencies were behind their abduction.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said the CA ruling was “out of touch with reality” and failed to heed the Supreme Court pronouncement that red-tagging is a threat to life, liberty and security.

“The plain reality is that Jhed and Jonila, as they continue to be red-tagged by government officials and State agents, remain unsafe,” it said.

To recall, Castro and Tamano earlier alleged that the military had abducted them, and they were not rebel returnees as the government announced.

In denying their petition for the privilege of the Writ of Amparo and Habeas Data, the CA said Castro and Tamano were unable to prove an imminent or continuing threat to their life, liberty and security.

It said they were able to exercise “full freedom” during their stay in a military camp and socialized with military personnel.

The lawyers group disagreed with the ruling and said Castro and Tamano pretended to be “cordial” to personnel in the military camp for their own survival. It likewise disputed the court’s pronouncement that the activists were only afraid of the military because of their preconceived notions.

“The Court of Appeals’ characterization of Jhed and Jonila’s fear inside the military camp as merely ‘rooted in preconceived distrust and suspicion of the military,’ rather than a response to an actual deprivation of liberty, is disturbingly out of touch with reality,” it said.

“The notion that they were free to leave at any time defies common understanding of what it means to be under duress. Freedom from such fear, as held time and again in jurisprudence, is the essence of the right to security,” it added.

It also said the CA could have taken into account that officials of the military and anti-insurgency task force were in the press conference where Castro and Tamano were presented as alleged rebel returnees.