Neri Colmenares

Neri Javier Colmenares (, born December 4, 1959) is a Filipino legislator, human rights lawyer and activist.

He was an associate of the Asian Law Centre at Melbourne Law School when he was completing his Ph.D. in law on "The Writ of Amparo and the International Criminal Court."

He also lectured at the University of Melbourne on International Human Rights Law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Born in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Colmenares joined the struggle against the late former President Ferdinand Marcos' leadership in 1976.

He was active in the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP), and became the Visayas regional chair of the Student Catholic Action (SCA).

Soon after becoming a national council member of SCA, he was arrested.

Following the end of his detention, Colmenares moved to Manila where he was involved in different religious organizations.

Actress Angel Locsin (Angelica Locsin Colmenares in real life) is Colmenares' aunt, although he is 25 years older than her.

Reports indicate that Locsin's father and Colmenares’ father are related, but no further details were provided about the matter.

In 1983 he shifted to Cagayan Valley to become a youth organizer there.

After five months of organizing work in Cagayan Valley, he was arrested by military agents and charged with 'rebellion.' In total, Colmenares was jailed and was tortured in captivity for four years.

Atty. William F. Claver stood as their legal counsel.

Colmenares was one of the youngest political prisoners at the time.

Colmenares is a human rights lawyer and is the president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), a national association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines.

He finished his Bachelor of Arts in Economics at San Beda College and completed his law degree at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law.

He lectures in Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) seminars and in various universities on the Writ of Amparo, Habeas Data, The International Criminal Court and International Humanitarian Law, Oral Advocacy, Constitutional Amendment and the Chacha Cases, Judicial and Congressional Jurisprudence on Impeachment, The Party List Law: Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), The Constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Law (Human Security Act), Whistleblowers and the Freedom of Information Law and other current legal and constitutional issues.

He acted as counsel of the seven impeachment complaints in the House of Representatives of the Philippines and was one of the prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Merceditas Navarro Gutierrez in the Philippine Senate, prosecuting mainly the fertilizer scam case and the euro generals case.

He was one of the prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was convicted by the Senate for Betrayal of Public Trust.

He is involved in constitutional legal issues, having acted as counsel and argued before the Supreme Court in oral arguments on the constitutionality of Executive Order 464, the petition against the Emergency Rule Proclamation 1017, the calibrated preemptive response (CPR) policy, the cha cha initiative to amend the Constitution, the petition to disqualify major political parties in the party list system, on the constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement (the Subic Rape Case) and the oral arguments on the petition he filed against the First Party Rule which resulted in Supreme Court decision filling up of all the party list seats in Congress.

On September 23, 2021, Colmenares announced that he will be running for senator in 2022.

He filed his candidacy on October 7.

In a petition filed before the Supreme Court in 2008, Colmenares questioned the legality of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) that the Arroyo administration signed with China and Vietnam.

Colmenares petitioned the Supreme Court to stop Meralco's record-high power rate hike after the 2013 Malampaya shutdown.

At the 2014 congressional committee hearings on the electricity rate hike, Colmenares refuted arguments by Manila Electric Company (Meralco) legal counsel who stated that Meralco did not raise prices intentionally.

In 2014, Colmenares filed a motion for immediate resolution before the Supreme Court, citing the original petition's importance in light of the Philippines' territorial and maritime dispute with China.

Colmenares argued before the Supreme Court to stop the heroes burial for the late former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 2016.

He also argued before the District Court in Hawaii on the Marcos human rights case.

Colmenares filed another motion for immediate resolution on the petition in 2018.

The motion read, "Any joint exploration with any foreign country or entity that allows almost absolute control over the benefits of the exploration to such foreign country or entity is detrimental to the Filipino people and therefore must not be allowed."

Colmenares served as counsel for lawmakers who in January 2018 filed for the suspension of the TRAIN Law.

He also noted how the TRAIN Law was passed in Congress without a quorum.

Colmenares authored several laws such as the (i) the law requiring warnings through text during typhoons and disasters (RA 10639); (ii) the law creating Special Election Precincts for persons with disabilities and senior citizens (RA 10633); (iii) the law allowing media to vote before election day (RA 10380); and human rights laws including the (iv) Reparation Law for human rights victims during Martial Law (10368); (v) the Anti-Torture Law (RA 9745); (vi) the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law (RA 10353).

He also authored the recently passed law on the practice of Nutrition and Dietetics (RA 10862).

He was an aspirant in the 2019 senatorial elections, and is a candidate for the 2022 Philippine Senate elections as part of the 1Sambayan Senate slate.

He again questioned Meralco's plans to raise electricity rates in 2019 and accused power companies of passing on to consumers the cost of shortages they themselves caused.

Colmenares questioned the Philippines' Chico River irrigation loan agreement with China in 2019.

He joined fellow lawmakers in petitioning the Supreme Court in stopping the Chinese-funded project.

Colmenares and fellow lawmakers noted how the fuel excise tax and the broader value added tax hit the poor and low-income earners.

He protested the Tax Reform of Inclusion and Acceleration (TRAIN) Law and the fuel excise tax and blamed these for the increasing prices of consumer goods.

He also called for the removal of the value added tax on power, water, and fuel.