THE Court of Appeals has granted the petition of Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso that his name be deleted from the government’s list of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade in the country, another loss absorbed by the government from the appellate court.
In a ruling promulgated on June 8, the appellate court’s Former Special Eight Division ordered the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, among others, to delete Veloso’s name from the March 2019 “narco-list” released by President Duterte.
“The respondents are hereby ordered to destroy all documents, records and information which pertain to the person of the petitioner obtained in relation to the 14 March 2019 narco-list. They are further ordered to rectify the said narco-list and delete the name of the petitioner,” the ruling penned by Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas and concurred in by Associate Justices Germano Francisco Legaspi and Ruben Reynaldo Roxas said.
The court, in granting the privilege of the writ of habeas data to Veloso, said the ruling is not a total censure on the government to act against drug personalities, but “any action which fails to observe respect for constitutional rights will never be tolerated.”
The Veloso ruling is the Dutert government’s third loss at the CA recently, with the appellate court also dismissing twice the government’s bid to incarcerate former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on rebellion and coup d’etat charges.
Also named by Veloso as respondents in his petition were former AFP chief Benjamin Madrigal Jr., NICA Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo, and Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano.
Veloso originally filed his petition in April 2019 with the Supreme Court but the tribunal remanded it to the CA. The appellate court, in an order issued on November 5, 2019, also remanded the case to the Office of the Ombudsman to be consolidated with an administrative case filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government against Veloso.
Veloso appealed the CA ruling, leading to the latest decision on the case.
The appellate court said that while the granting of the writ will not prevent the filing of a criminal case against the Leyte lawmaker if the government has evidence, which it said “should have been done to begin with as matter of due process,” it had no choice but to grant the plea as the inclusion of Veloso’s name in the narco-list at this point threatened his right to privacy in life, liberty and security.
Veloso, a retired CA justice, has denied any links or involvement in the illegal drugs trade.
