Case Digest (G.R. No. 215585)
Facts:
In the Matter of the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus/Data and Amparo in favor of Amin Imam Boratong, G.R. Nos. 215585 and 215768, September 08, 2020, the Supreme Court En Banc, Leonen, J., writing for the Court.Petitions were filed after a December 15, 2014 multi-agency surprise raid on the kubol (living quarters) of 19 high-risk/high-profile inmates of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP). Then Secretary of Justice Leila M. De Lima issued a December 12, 2014 memorandum directing the transfer of those inmates to a temporary NBP extension facility at the NBI compound in Taft Avenue, Manila, to facilitate searches of their quarters, seizure of contraband, and investigative case build-up. The December 16, 2014 NBI intelligence memorandum recorded numerous contraband recoveries from several inmates’ kubol.
On December 19, 2014, Memie Sultan Boratong, wife of inmate Amin Imam Boratong, filed a petition (docketed G.R. No. 215585) for writs of amparo, habeas corpus and habeas data, alleging that her husband was transferred and kept incommunicado and that no lawful justification or documents identified him as "high risk." On behalf of inmate Herbert R. Colangco, Anthony R. Bombeo filed a petition (docketed G.R. No. 215768) for a writ of amparo asserting incommunicado detention and denial of access to counsel and relatives.
This Court consolidated the matters on January 13, 2015, dismissed certain prayers, and directed respondents to comment. Respondents produced memoranda, NBI guidelines for visitation approved by Secretary De Lima, and evidence that counsel and family access were allowed under conditions; the OSG argued the petitions were moot because inmates had been returned to NBP Building 14 and visitation restored, and that writs of amparo/habeas data were improper given the circumstances. Petitioners maintained the transfers were effectively enforced disappearanc...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Are the petitions moot and academic given the subsequent return of the inmates and restoration of visitation rights?
- Was the writ of habeas corpus appropriately available on the ground that the transferred inmates were held incommunicado, in violation of constitutional protections?
- Was the writ of habeas data appropriate to compel production of documents justifying the transfers and to protect informational privacy?
- Was the writ of amparo the proper remedy for alleged enforced disappearance ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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