Facts:
Rehman Sabir, G.R. No. 249387, March 08, 2023, the Supreme Court En Banc, Zalameda, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Rehman Sabir filed a Motion for Partial Reconsideration dated 27 December 2022 seeking reconsideration of this Court’s Decision of 02 August 2022, which had partly granted his petition, reversed and set aside the Court of Appeals’ Decision dated 31 January 2019 and Resolution dated 10 September 2019 in CA‑G.R. SP No. 153799, and remanded the case to the Department of Justice‑Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (DOJ‑RSPPU) for further proceedings.In his motion petitioner reiterated his request to be declared a bona fide refugee, alleging a well‑founded fear of religious persecution in Pakistan grounded on forced conversion to Islam and threats to his life. He relied on country‑of‑origin information (COI) regarding persecution of Christians in Pakistan and contended that the DOJ‑RSPPU protection officer failed in the unit’s shared duty to ascertain and evaluate relevant facts, concentrating instead on petitioner’s non‑prosecution for blasphemy; he further alleged the protection officer abdicated responsibility for collecting COI to petitioner’s detriment.
The Court denied the motion. In doing so, the Court discussed the DOJ’s issuance of DOJ Circular No. 024, series of 2022 (the “2022 Circular”), which expressly repealed DOJ Circular No. 058, series of 2012 (the “2012 Circular”), and was deposited with ONAR on 1 July 2022, published 4 August 2022, and took effect 19 August 2022. The Court summarized the 2022 Circular’s procedural reforms: formal recognition of the principle of non‑refoulement; enumeration of rights of Persons of Concern (POC) and Applicants (including access to counsel, interpreter services, access to UNHCR, and protection from forcible return); streamlined regular and accelerated determination procedures; remote interviews; specified decision timelines (90 days for initial decisions, 60 days for reconsideration); the appealability of RSPPU denials to the Office of the President; and RSPPU’s motu proprio review powers for cancellation, revocation, or cessation.
The Court emphasized Section 3, Rule IV of the 2022 Circular on the burden of proof, which frames the burden as principally on the Applicant but describes a shared and collaborative duty between Applicant and Protection Officer, closely following the UNHCR Handbook (pars. 195–196). The Court reaffirmed its earlier guidelines on the protection officer’s active role and the UNHCR two‑step process (ascertain facts, then apply refugee definition), and explained that the protection officer’s failure to d...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Should the Court grant petitioner’s Motion for Partial Reconsideration of the Court’s 02 August 2022 Decision?
- Does DOJ Circular No. 024, series of 2022 apply to cases pending before the RSPPU and affect the proceedings in this case?
- Did the DOJ‑RSPPU fail its shared and collaborative duty such that petitioner should be declared a refugee, or is rem...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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