Harriet Demetriou | |
---|---|
Chair of the Commission on Elections | |
In office January 11, 1999 –January 21, 2001 | |
President | Joseph Estrada |
Preceded by | Luzviminda Tancangco |
Succeeded by | Alfredo Benipayo |
Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan | |
In office August 28,1995 –February 14,1998 | |
President | Fidel V. Ramos |
Preceded by | Bienvenido Vera Cruz |
Succeeded by | Rodolfo Palattao |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Filipino |
Harriet Obias Demetriou is a Filipino lawyer and retired judge. She served as the chairperson of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) from 1999 to 2001,the first woman to serve in that post. Prior to that,she was an associate justice of the Sandiganbayan,serving from 1995 to 1998. As presiding judge of the Pasig regional trial court,she presided over the trial for the murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez,in which Calauan,Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez and his accomplices were convicted in 1995.
Demetriou,the then-judge of Pasig regional trial court,handed down the March 1995 verdict against former Calauan,Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez and six others (then-PNP Calauan Deputy Chief George Medialdea,Luis Corcolon,Rogelio "Boy" Corcolon,Zoilo Ama,Baldwin Brion,and Pepito Kawit) for the rape-slay of 21-year-old Mary Eileen Sarmenta and the killing of 19-year-old Allan Gomez in June 1993. [1]
On January 11,1999,she was appointed by President Joseph Estrada as Chair of the Commission on Elections. After the Second EDSA Revolution in January 2001 that led to Estrada's overthrow,Demetriou tendered her courtesy resignation which was accepted by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. [2]
Demetriou was the lead counsel for the core officers of the Magdalo Group,who led the siege to the Oakwood hotel in Makati on July 27,2003. [3]
Demetriou is Roman Catholic,and is a devotee of the Our Lady,Mary,Mediatrix of All Grace. [4] In 2022,she sued exorcist priest Winston Cabading for offending religious feelings over the priest's alleged mockery of the Marian image which is not recognized by the Holy See. [5] On January 24,2024,prosecutors dismissed the case for "insufficiency of evidence,since her complaint has no basis and there is no proof or document to support her claims." [6]
On March 19,2024,in a circular,Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa stated that "the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith upon the fervent request of Bishop Pablo Virgilio David,revealed the 1951 decree rejecting ‘Lipa apparition’.The letter “in which Sister Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus,OCD,then the superior of the convent where the known events occurred,confessed guiltily to having deceived the faithful about the alleged apparitions in Lipa and consequently asked for forgiveness”said Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández who further stressed that “This fact definitively and directly confirms the non-supernatural nature of the events in Lipa.” [7] ‘Give me the document,let me examine it. If it’s valid,if it’s really authentic,then I will submit myself. Who am I to fight the Pope?’Demetriou told Rappler. [8]
Taguig, officially the City of Taguig, is the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines with a population of 1.2 million people. The city is located alongside the northwestern shores of Laguna de Bay in Metro Manila, Philippines. Taguig is known for Bonifacio Global City, one of the leading financial centers of the Philippines. Originally a fishing village during the Spanish and American colonial periods, it experienced rapid growth when former military reservations were converted by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) into financial centers and mixed-use planned communities. Taguig became a highly urbanized city with the passage of Republic Act No. 8487 in 2004, which was ratified by a plebiscite.
Calauan, officially the Municipality of Calauan, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. The municipality has a land area of 25.25 square miles which constitutes 3.41% of Laguna's total area. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 87,693 people.
Nagcarlan, officially the Municipality of Nagcarlan, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,866 people.
The Commission on Elections, abbreviated as COMELEC, is one of the three constitutional commissions of the Philippines. Its principal role is to enforce all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of elections in the Philippines.
Impeachment in the Philippines is an expressed power of the Congress of the Philippines to formally charge a serving government official with an impeachable offense. After being impeached by the House of Representatives, the official is then tried in the Senate. If convicted, the official is either removed from office or censured.
Antonio Leyza Sanchez was a Filipino politician who served as mayor of Calauan, Laguna from 1980 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993. He is the convicted mastermind in the murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez, both students of the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB), in 1993.
The Sandiganbayan is a special appellate collegial court in the Philippines that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public officers and employees, including those in government-owned and controlled corporations. The special court was established by Presidential Decree No. 1486. It was subsequently modified by Presidential Decree No. 1606 and by Republic Acts 7975, 8249 and 10660. It is equal in rank to the Court of Appeals, and consists of fourteen Associate Justices and one Presiding Justice. The Office of the Ombudsman owns exclusive authority to bring cases to the Sandiganbayan.
Cecilia Arreglado Muñoz-Palma was a Filipino jurist and the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29, 1973, and served until she reached the then-mandatory retirement age of 65.
Minita Chico-Nazario was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on February 10, 2004.
Maria Alicia Austria-Martinez is a Filipino jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on April 12, 2002.
Mary, the Mediatrix of All Grace, also known as the Our Lady of Lipa, is an alleged Marian apparition that occurred within the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The event occurred to a former Carmelite postulant, Teresita Castillo. The original statue associated with the apparition is currently enshrined at the monastery.
1993 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1993.
Local elections were held in Manila on May 13, 2013, within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the six congressmen, and the councilors, six in each of the city's six legislative districts.
Mary Grace Natividad Sonora Poe-Llamanzares is a Filipino politician, businesswoman, educator, and philanthropist serving as a senator since 2013. She was the chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) from 2010 to 2012.
Rizalito Y. David versus Mary Grace Poe Llamanzares, better known as David v. Poe, is a SET Case No.001-15. It is a 2015 court case filed before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) that sought to remove Grace Poe from the Philippine Senate—which would have effectively blocked her from running for president in the 2016 elections—because she was a foundling and therefore it was impossible to determine whether she was a natural-born citizen, a requirement for both offices.
The murders of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez occurred on June 28, 1993 in Calauan, Laguna, Philippines. The case involved police personnel and the late Antonio Sanchez, the former mayor of Calauan, who were tried and convicted of the crime. Sanchez was accused of masterminding the abduction of Sarmenta and her companion, Gomez, and the subsequent rape and murder of Sarmenta and the torture and murder of Gomez. The victims were both students of the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB).
Alfredo Verzosa y Florentín was the fourth native Filipino to be elevated as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church and the first from Northern Luzon – the first Ilocano. Together with Laura Latorre Mendoza, a widow and catechist, they founded the Congregation of the Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart (MCSH), a congregation focusing on the missions of education and administration within the church, especially of Catholic catechesis. His cause for beatification is currently underway, having been declared Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI.
The good conduct time allowance (GCTA) controversy started in August 2019 involving the employees of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). It begins with Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon and several other government officials signing the document containing the release of former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, the prime suspect in the rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and her friend Allan Gomez in 1993, and the release of Josman Aznar, Ariel Balansag, Alberto Caño and James Anthony Uy, the 4 suspects in the rape and murder of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong in 1997, citing "good conduct."
In the Philippines, offending religious feelings is an blasphemy law-related offense under Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code. It is a criminal offense which could only be committed if done in a place of worship or during a religious ceremony and if the act is considered "notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful".
In December 2022, Harriet Demetriou a devotee of the Vatican unrecognized Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace apparition filed a criminal case against exorcist priest Winston Cabading for offending religious feelings a violation under the Revised Penal Code. This complaint was made over his prior statements referencing the Marian apparition in a conference and an online show which the complainant is convinced to be a mockery against the devotion.