Sarzuela of Justice in the Philippines

By: Joe Mauricio

After a series of arrest orders by the Sandiganbayan, the three Philippine Senators (Enrile, Estrada & Revilla) accudes of graft and corruption surrendered to the Philippine National Police (PNP) at Camp Crame. Although the confinement facities are above the Philippine standards of jails, such as showers, toilets and beds, refrigerators, etc., it is still a jail. The accused senators have some remedies available to them and the writ of habeas corpus is one of them. WHAT IS A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS? “A write of habeas corpus is a judicially enforceable order issued by a court of law to a prison official ordering that a prisoner be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that prisoner had been lawfully imprisoned, and, if not, whether he or she be released from custody. A heabeas corpus petition is a petition filed with a court by a person who objects to his own or another’s detention or imprisonment. The petition must show that the court ordering the detention or imprisonment made a legal or factual error. The right of habeas corpus is the constitutionality bestowed right of a person to present evidence before a court that he or she has been wrongfully imprisoned.” Philippine President Noy Aquino has been pursuing legal cases against both allies and opposition leaders. His pursuit of the administration opposition is a bit troublesome, such as the ouster of Chief Justice Corona, jailing of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and now the opposition senators. These missteps will boomerang for the 2016 presidential election. The opposition candidates that include VP Jojo Binay are now getting ready to battle against President Aquino’s candidates in 2016. Going back to the accused, were they given the due process of law? Did the government give the accused theirf basic constitutional rights to life, liberty and property? WHAT IS DUE PROCESS OF LAW? “It is a fundamental, constitutional guarantee that all legal proceedings will be fair and that one will be given notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard before the government acts to take away one’s life, liberty or property. Also, a constitutional guarantee that a law shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious. The constitutional guarantee of due process of law, found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, prohibits all levels of government from abitrarily or unfairly depriving invidivudals of their basic constitutional rights to life, liberty, or property. The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1791, asserts that no person shall “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without the due process of law.” This amendment restricts the powers of the federal government and applies only to actions by it. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has also been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 20th century to incorporate protections of the Bill of Rights, so that those protections apply to the states as well as to the federal government. “ The whole world is watching the arrests and jailing of the three high-profiled Philippine senators, with the government not recognizing the democratic principles of due process and the write of habeas corpus. The Philippine sarzuela continues and whatever the outcome, the next Philippine President will pardon them all, guilty or not guilty.