She has petitioned for a writ of habeas data (a remedy for people whose lives are threatened) and a writ of amparo (a remedy for relatives of extralegal killings) to the Court of Appeals in the Philippines. On March 24, she and paralegal William Bugatti attended a hearing for two political prisoner clients before Mr Bugatti was shot and killed. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and the chief of staff are among the named respondents. 

Target of the regime

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the human rights alliance Karapatan said: ‘Everyone who stands by the people becomes a target of the Aquino regime. Political opponents…are charged with trumped-up criminal cases, if not killed or disappeared. The very few lawyers who are willing to defend the poor and victims of human rights violations are now themselves being subjected to human rights violations.’ Source: Bulatlat.com