WHAT IS WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS IN THE PHILLIPINES?

In English, the Latin phrase habeas corpus means "that you have the body."
When the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over habeas corpus petitions,
issues the writ, it commands an individual or a government official who has
restrained another individual to produce the prisoner at a designated time and
place so that the Court can determine whether the prisoner's custody is legal or
not.

If it isn't, then the prisoner must be released. In other words, the writ is a
safeguard against warrantless arrests and illegal detention.

Constitutional right to due process

In reaction to cases of illegal detention during the martial law era, the 1987
Constitution contains several provisions to ensure that due process is followed
and that warrantless arrests may only be conducted upon fulfilling certain
conditions.

For starters, Article 3, Sections 1, 2 and 14 of the Constitution guarantee due

process as a fundamental right of every Filipino and that a court-issued warrant
of arrest is needed to detain someone for a crime, unless he or she is caught in
the act.

Meanwhile, Article 3, Section 3 stipulates that any arrests made without satisfying
the preceding provisions are not valid.

When are warrantless arrests allowed?

However, the Constitution states certain conditions for the writ of habeas corpus
to be suspended, thus allowing warrantless arrests.

Article 3, Section 15 stipulates that the writ can only be suspended in cases of
invasion or rebellion and when public safety requires it. In addition, Article 3,
Section 13 says the right to bail shall remain even when the writ is suspended.

Only the President has the power to suspend the writ under Article 7, Section 18,
which Duterte used as the legal basis for issuing the state of emergency.

The provision says "in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety
requires it, he (the President) may, for a period not exceeding sixty days,
suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any
part thereof under martial law."

Within 48 hours of suspending the writ, the President must submit "a report in
person or in writing to the Congress," which may revoke or extend the
suspension following a majority vote of both the House of Representatives and
the Senate. In case of a revocation, the President must comply.

In addition, the Supreme Court may, upon the filing of any citizen, review the
suspension of the writ and must promulgate its decision on it within 30 days from
the filing.

The provision makes very clear that the suspension of the writ "shall apply only to
persons judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in or directly
connected with the invasion" and that any person arrested or detained while the
writ is suspended must be charged within three days or else he or she will be
released.

Cases of suspending the writ

The first suspension of the writ of habeas corpus after the American occupation
was in 1950, when President Elpidio Quirino issued Proclamation No. 210 to help
in the fight against Communist rebels.

In 1971, President Ferdinand Marcos also suspended habeas corpus through

Proclamation No. 889 in response to the threat of Communist rebels and to the
Plaza Miranda bombing. Most recently, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
suspended the writ in Maguindanao in 2009 through Proclamation No. 1959
following the Maguindanao massacre.
Amparo and habeas data in the Philippines

In the Philippines, amparo and habeas data are prerogative writs to supplement
the inefficacy of the writ of habeas corpus (Rule 102, Revised Rules of Court).
Amparo means 'protection,' while habeas data is 'access to information.'[1] Both
writs were conceived to solve the extensive Philippine extrajudicial killings and
forced disappearances since 1999.

On July 16, 2007, Philippine Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and Justice Adolfo
Azcuna officially declared the legal conception of the Philippine Writ of Amparo
("Recurso de Amparo"), at the historic Manila Hotel National Summit on
Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances.

On August 25, 2007, Reynato Puno declared the legal conception of amparo's
twin, the supplemental Philippine Habeas Data. Puno by judicial fiat proclaimed
the legal birth of these twin peremptory writs on October, 2007, as his legacy to
the Filipino nation. Puno admitted the inefficacy of Habeas Corpus, under Rule
102, Rules of Court, since government officers repeatedly failed to produce the
body upon mere submission of the defense of alibi.

By invoking the truth, Habeas Data will not only compel military and government
agents to release information about the desaparecidos but require access to
military and police files. Reynato Puno's writ of amparoSpanish for
'protection'will bar military officers in judicial proceedings to issue denial
answers regarding petitions on disappearances or extrajudicial executions, which
were legally permitted in Habeas corpus proceedings.

The Supreme Court of the Philippines announced that the draft guidelines
(Committee on Revision of Rules) for the writ of amparo were approved on
September 23, to be deliberated by the En Banc Court on September 25.
Habeas corpus

Historically, Philippine Habeas Corpus (from 1901 until the present) miserably
failed to produce efficacious legal remedy for victims of extrajudicial killings and
desaparecidos. The "amparo de libertad" transcends the protection of habeas
corpus. Once a lawsuit is filed under Habeas Corpus, Rule 102, Rules of Court,
the defendants, government officers would merely submit the usual defense of
alibi or non-custody of the body sought to be produced. The 1987 Philippine
Constitution, however, empowers the Supreme Court of the Philippines to
promulgate amparo and Habeas Data, as part of the Rules of Court expressly:
Promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional
rights. (Sec. 5, (5), Article VIII, 1987, Constitution)

The writ of habeas corpus is an "extraordinary", "common law", or "Prerogative

writ", which were historically issued by the courts in the name of the monarch to
control inferior courts and public authorities within the kingdom.

Writs of amparo and habeas data

On August 17, 2007 Puno said that the writ of amparo, would bar the military plea
of denial (at a speech at the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption's 9th
anniversary, Camp Crame). Under the writ, plaintiffs or victims will have the right
of access to information on their lawsuitsa constitutional right called the
"habeas data" derived from constitutions of Latin America. The final draft of these
twin writs (retroactive) will be promulgated on October. Puno tersely summed the
writs "In other words, if you have this right, it would be very, very difficult for State
agents, State authorities to be able to escape from their culpability."

Puno stated that with the writ of Habeas corpus, the writs of Habeas Data and
writ of amparo will further assist "those looking for missing loved ones". On
August 30, 2007, Puno (speech at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros
Oriental) promised to institute the writ of habeas data (you should have the idea
or you should have the data). Puno explained that amparo bars alibi, while
Habeas Data "can find out what information is held by the officer, rectify or even
the destroy erroneous data gathered". Brazil used the writ, followed by Colombia,
Paraguay, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador.
The Philippine 1987 Constitution was derived from the 1973 Ferdinand Marcos
Constitution, its 1981 amendment, from the 1935 constitution, and from the
United States Constitution. The United States Constitution was adopted in its
original form on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later ratified by conventions in each state in the
name of "the People." The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written national
constitution except possibly for San Marino 's Statutes of 1600, whose status as
a true constitution is disputed by scholars. The Writ of Amparo is a remedy to
enforce fundamental rights. among the different procedures that have been
established for the protection of human rights, the primary ones that provide
direct and immediate protection are habeas corpus and amparo. The difference
between these two writs is that habeas corpus is designed to enforce the right to
freedom of the person, whereas amparo is designed to protect those other
fundamental human rights enshrined in the Constitution but not covered by the
writ of habeas corpus.

The literal translation from Latin of Habeas Data is you should have the data.
Habeas Data is a constitutional right to protect, per lawsuit filed in court, to
protect the image, privacy, honour, information self-determination and freedom of
information of a person. Habeas Data can used to discover what information is
held about his or her person (via rectification or destruction of the personal data
held. Habeas Data originated, inter alia, from the Council of Europes 108th
Convention on Data Protection of 1981 (aimed at protecting the privacy of the
individual regarding the automated processing of personal data; with right to
access their personal data held in an automated database.
Why is the writ of habeas corpus important?

It was April 1974 at dawn when members of the Philippine Constabularys intelligence
unit, then headed by former President Fidel Ramos, arrested Boni Ilagan. It was over a
year since Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law which suspended civil rights and
imposed military authority in the country.
At that time the acclaimed writer went underground as many students of the University
of the Philippines opposing the corrupt dictatorship did. Ilagan and his companions,
journalist Jose Lacaba and university professor Dolores Stephens Feria, were brought
to Camp Crame. This was part of the history that Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III
said Communications Secretary Martin Andanar should review after the latter tagged
protesters against Marcos heros burial as temperamental brats.
Habeas corpus, which translates to produce the body, is suspended during martial law.
It is an order to present a person before the court to determine if the arrest or
imprisonment is legal or if the inmate must be released from custody. Amnesty
International estimated that some 70,000 were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured and
3,240 were killed during Martial Law. Under Article 3 Section 15 of the 1987
Constitution, [t]he privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except
in cases of invasion or rebellion when the public safety requires it.
Its purpose is to hold in preventive imprisonment pending investigation and trial
those who are plotting to commit acts endangering the state.
Prior to declaring Martial Law, Marcos had suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus in 1971 through Proclamation No. 889 in response to the Plaza Miranda
bombing.
The 1935 Constitution in effect during Marcos term states that the president, whenever
it becomes necessary, may call out the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless
violence, invasion, insurrection, or rebellion, or imminent danger thereof, when the
public safety requires it, he may suspend the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, or
place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law.
Learning from the lessons of Martial Law, the 1987 Constitution included additional
conditions under Article 7 Section 18.
It states that the president may for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under
martial law.
The president is also required to submit a report to Congress within 48 hours from the
proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus.