‘Ilocos
6’ to CA: Resolve habeas corpus plea
LAOAG CITY -- The
Ilocos Norte Provincial Board or Sangguniang Panlalawigan Tuesday
declared 1st District Rep. Rodolfo “Rudy” C. Fariñas “persona non grata”
for instigating detention of six provincial officials by the House of
Representatives over alleged misuse of tobacco excise funds.
This, as the six
detained Ilocos Norte officials asked the Court of Appeals to resolve their
habeas corpus petition and order their permanent release.
In a 18-page motion filed
on June 23, the provincial officials urged the special fourth division of the
appellate court to declare their continued detention as illegal and a form of
torture.
Meanwhile, Resolution
No. 2017-06081 declaring Farinas persona non grata was sponsored by SP
member Vicentito “Toto” M. Lazo, a
lawyer and Vice Gov. Angelo Marcos Barba.
The legal term
“persona non grata” means “unwelcome person,” implying that a person declared
as such is not welcome in entering its jurisdiction after their ordinances and
laws were violated by the individual.
But SP member Da Vinci
M. Crisostomo, also a lawyer clarified the congressman is not prohibited from
entering the province. He said the declaration was made to “manifest or
express our sentiments” and provincial constituents towards Fariñas.
Fariñas earlier
initiated a congressional inquiry regarding Ilocos Norte alleged misuse of
tobacco funds under Republic Act (RA) 7171, citing in contempt the six
employees.
Dubbed ‘Ilocos Six,’ the six employees are still
detained at the House after the last hearing on May 29.
The “coercive
interrogation” that the six in Congress and detention have been labeled as
mental and psychological torture by their legal counsels.
The House committee on
good government and public accountability sergeant-at-arms have defied the
Court of Appeals order for the employees’ provisional release, with Speaker of
the House Pantaleon Alvarez accusing three CA justices of “gross ignorance of
the law.”
The Supreme Court has
backed up CA, calling the House to reconsider the show cause order issued
against the justices who issued the release order of the ‘Ilocos Six’.
The Integrated Bar of
the Philippines also released a statement citing adherence to the “rule of
law,” adding the CA has “authority to grant in habeas corpus proceedings unless
detained person is under a charge for an offense punishable by death.”
In addition, the
president of the IBP–Ilocos Norte Chapter said “if the writ of habeas corpus
was already issued, then it should be immediately executory, even pending
appeal or motion for reconsideration, owing to the fact that the life and
liberty of the detained persons are at stake.”
Former solicitor
general Estelito Mendoza, lawyer of the Ilocos 6, in a motion, told the CA: “The four weeks the petitioners
spent in detention is time lost which petitioners could never recover. The
honorable court, by exercising its power to issue the extraordinary writ of
habeas corpus, may still relieve petitioners of the protracted and arbitrary
deprivation of their liberty,” the motion filed by the lead counsel of the
officials,
A writ of habeas
corpus, which literally means to “produce the body,” is an order to deliver a
detained person to a court.
The provincial
officials said previous CA orders were futile because the House leadership
ignored them.
Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, CA Presiding
Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and the board of governors of the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines earlier asked the House to recall its show cause order against
the CA justices and just avail of remedies under the rules of court.
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