Cited Laws
accordingly pursuant to existing laws and AFP regulations. [Petitioner] Major Gen. Benito Antonio T. De Leon pointed out that he assumed command of the 5 th Infantry (STAR) Division only on April 4, 2014, thus, the alleged surveillance operations would have been conducted prior to his assumption of said office. Since he assumed command of said unit, he had not given any orders to his men to conduct surveillance or "casing" operations against any persons within the unit's area of operation, nor did he receive any similar orders from his superiors. Nonetheless, even prior to the receipt of the directive from the higher headquarters and a copy of the Petition , [petitioner] Major Gen. De Leon, on his own volition and upon gaining information through print media of the filing of the petition , exerted efforts to verify with the intelligence unit commanders under his command whether there was any standing instruction or order for them to conduct "casing" or surveillance operations against [respondent], to which the commanders responded in the negative. In addition, he averred that he immediately sent out radio messages to his subordinates to be law-abiding and that human rights violations have no place in the military. [Petitioner] PCSupt. Miguel de Mayo Laurel clarified that he was currently the Acting Regional Director of the Police Regional Office 2, and not the Chief of the Isabela Provincial Police Office, as indicated in the Petition . Said Petition was only emailed by the Legal Service of Camp Crame to the Office of the Regional Legal Service, which provided [petitioner] PCSupt. Laurel a copy of the same. [Petitioner] PCSupt. Laurel maintained that their Office had no memorandum order relating to [respondent's] allegations, nor are there any documents in their possession concerning [respondent]. Thus, PCSupt. Laurel immediately sent a Memorandum directing the Provincial Director of the Isabela Police Provincial Office and the Chief of the Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office 2, two of the units mentioned in the Petition which were under his operational control, to submit their comments and all relevant information and pertinent documents relative to the allegations made by [respondent] and to identify the persons who are responsible for the alleged harassment and threats on [respondent's] life, liberty and security. In response thereto, PSSupt. Ramos, Jr., the Provincial Director of the Isabela Provincial Police Office, reported that no directive was ever issued to PNP Burgos, Isabela, to conduct a background investigation and to confirm [respondent's] alleged status as a "Red Lawyer", or to threaten, intimidate or harass, and conduct continuous surveillance on her. He likewise denied that his office was in possession of any data or information which may or would likely violate [respondent's] right to privacy or be used as a justification to harass or intimidate her. Meanwhile, the Chief of the Regional Intelligence Division