Facts:
In the Matter of the Urgent Petition for the Release of Prisoners on Humanitarian Grounds in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, G.R. No. 252117, July 28, 2020, the Supreme Court En Banc, Gesmundo, J., writing for the Court.
Petitioners are 22 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) — several elderly, sick, or pregnant — who filed this original petition directly before the Court asking to be released on recognizance or on bail and asking the Court to order creation of a “Prisoner Release Committee” and ground rules for conditional releases. They claimed detention in congested facilities made them especially vulnerable to contracting COVID‑19 and invoked humanitarian/equity grounds and international standards (the UN “Nelson Mandela Rules”) to justify provisional liberty. Respondents are the People of the Philippines and several officials (Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, Secretary of Justice, BuCor and BJMP chiefs, and various wardens), represented by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG). Respondents opposed the petition, arguing the petitioners mostly face non‑bailable offenses, the Court is not a trier of facts, existing judicial and executive measures address decongestion, and the Nelson Mandela Rules are not self‑executing law in the Philippines. The OSG submitted Verified Reports from BJMP and BuCor describing measures (lockdowns, isolation facilities, PPE, screening, limited releases), and the Court record reflects several Administrative Circulars and OCA circulars issued to expedite bail, recognizance, videoconference hearings, and other decongestion steps. No trial court had been asked (per the petition record) to conduct the summary bail hearings the Rules require for persons charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua; petitioners attached medical certificates but no completed lower‑court proceedings. The Court treated the filing as an original application but, after deliberation, concluded the proper course was to treat the pleading as pending applications for bail/recognizance (and...
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Issues:
- Whether the petition filed directly before the Supreme Court may be given due course.
- Whether the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) are judicially enforceable in the Philippines.
- Whether petitioners may be granted provisional liberty on humanitarian/equity grounds without proceeding in the trial courts.
- Whether the Court may resolve or second‑guess the State’s selection of...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Doctrine: