ACT petition vs PNP ‘profiling’ junked

MANILA – Due to procedural “infirmities,” the Court of Appeals (CA) junked the Alliance of Concerned Teachers’ (ACT) petition seeking a stop to the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) alleged “profiling” of its members.

The court’s 11th Division, in a resolution dated Feb. 4 but obtained by media Thursday, dismissed the ACT’s petition for failure to meet four requirements and without discussing the merits of the case.

The ACT had asked the appeals court to issue a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction that would stop the PNP from implementing supposed orders for an inventory of ACT members.

The alliance claimed the alleged memoranda violated the teachers’ right to freedom of association, expression, and self-organization, as well as the Data Privacy Act of 2012. They eventually wanted the orders to be declared unconstitutional.

The group sought relief from the CA after learning of cases of police officers requesting lists of ACT members in schools in the National Capital Region, Rizal, Quezon, Calapan City, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, Negros, Agusan del Sur, and Cagayan de Oro City.

“Were it not for the leaking of the PNP memoranda and the actions of those who implemented it, such profiling was intended by the PNP to be conducted surreptitiously or clandestinely,” the ACT said.

However, the CA said the petition was not accompanied by certified true copies of the assailed memoranda of the PNP, in violation of Rule 65, Section 2 in relation to Rule 46, Section 3 of the Rules of Court.

The petition also did not indicate the dates when the ACT received the said documents nor the dates of issuance of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Membership Number and of the Professional Tax Number of the group’s lawyer, the CA said.

The CA resolution was written by Associate Justice Nina Antonio-Valenzuela, with concurrences from Associate Justices Ricardo Rosario and Perpetua Atal- Paño. (GMA News/PN)

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