Human rights advocates are urging the Judicial and Bar Council to scrutinize the judicial record of a judge responsible for a series of search warrants against numerous activists which courts have voided due to serious flaws and to reject her promotion to any higher judicial post.

“As a former political prisoner who fell victim to the issuance of questionable search warrants by Judge Cecilyn Burgos Villavert, I cannot stay silent. Between 2018 and 2020, this judge issued numerous questionable search warrants that led to the arrest and filing of trumped-up charges against 76 activists,” said Dennise Velasco in a letter addressed to the Judicial and Bar Council, which he shared on his Facebook page.

“I am appealing for the immediate disqualification of Judge Villavert from being considered for a higher position in the Court of Appeals or Sandiganbayan. We fear she could cause further damage to the justice system and society as a whole,” Velasco emphasized.

A trade union organizer, Velasco was one of seven activists arrested on December 10, 2020, Human Rights Day. He was released 14 months after, on March 8, 2022, when the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 220 granted Velasco’s motion to quash the search warrant due to irregularities and for lack of evidence.

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