Title
Supreme Court
Siegfred D. Deduro vs. Maj. Gen. Eric C. Vinoya, in his capacity as Commanding Officer of the 3rd Infantry Division, Philippine Army
Case
G.R. No. 254753
Decision Date
Jul 4, 2023
Activist Siegfred Deduro sought a writ of amparo after being red-tagged, surveilled, and linked to slain associates, citing threats to his life and security. The Supreme Court granted partial relief, recognizing the dangers of state-sponsored vilification and surveillance.

Case Digest (G.R. No. 193178)
Expanded Legal Reasoning Model

Facts:

  • Parties and Background
    • Petitioner Siegfred D. Deduro is an Iloilo activist, former party-list representative of Bayan Muna, and officer/consultant in various NGOs and government bodies.
    • Respondent Maj. Gen. Eric C. Vinoya is sued in his official capacity as Commanding Officer of the 3rd Infantry Division, Philippine Army.
  • Red-Tagging Incidents
    • June 19, 2020 PPOC Meeting – Military officers under respondent identified petitioner by name as part of the CPP-NPA hierarchy; media reports and social-media posts amplified the accusation.
    • Philippine News Agency Article – Photo captioned “Photo courtesy of Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion,” implicating respondent’s unit.
  • Other Harassment and Surveillance
    • December 11, 2017 Posters – Petitioner’s image labeled “criminal, terrorist” among other activists at various Iloilo City locations.
    • March 16, 2019 Re-plastered Posters – Same content and persons targeted.
    • January 23, 2019 Surveillance – Unidentified men followed petitioner and companions; police blotter by companion (Annex “M”).
    • August 24, 2019 Symposium in Bacolod – Military officers red-tagged petitioner’s organizations and other NGOs as CPP-NPA-NDF supporters.
    • August 27, 2020 Posters in Iloilo and Oton – Renewed labelling of petitioner and fellow activists.
    • October 10 & 16, 2020 Social-Media Red-Tagging – “Western Visayas Expose” Facebook page named petitioner among alleged CPP-NPA-NDF members.
  • Related Killings of Red-Tagged Individuals
    • Jose Reynaldo Porquia (shot April 30, 2020) and Zara R. Alvarez (shot August 17, 2020) appeared alongside petitioner in posters and tarpaulins.
    • Other slain persons included Atty. Benjamin Ramos (Nov. 6, 2018) and Hon. Bernardino Patigas (Apr. 22, 2019).
  • RTC Proceedings
    • Petition for Writ of Amparo filed October 22, 2020 with attachments (Annexes A–M), seeking protective and production orders, and injunctions against red-tagging and retention of related dossiers.
    • RTC Branch 24 Order of October 26, 2020 denied reliefs for lack of prima facie evidence of threats to petitioner’s life, liberty, or security.

Issues:

  • Entitlement to Amparo Reliefs
    • Whether petitioner sufficiently established threats to his life, liberty, or security to merit issuance of a writ of amparo.
  • Procedural Regularity
    • Whether the RTC erred in dismissing the petition without requiring respondent’s return and without conducting a summary hearing.

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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