QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 59)
EO No. 59 expressly repealed: (1) PD No. 1404 (authorizing longer periods for the delivery of persons arrested for specified crimes/offenses), (2) PD No. 1836 (authorizing the President to issue arrest or commitment orders during martial law or when habeas corpus is suspended), (3) PD No. 1877 (providing for preventive detention actions for certain participants in listed crimes under specified periods/conditions), and (4) PD No. 1877-A (expanding preventive detention powers to additional crimes/conditions).
Section 1 of EO No. 59 states that not only the named PDs are repealed, but also the rules, regulations, and instructions issued to implement them are likewise repealed.
EO No. 59 reasoned that the authorization of longer delivery periods, the issuance of arrest/commitment orders, and preventive detention actions (under those PDs) undermined the rights and freedoms of the Filipino people and were patently inconsistent with Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986.
EO No. 59 references the writ of habeas corpus being suspended. It notes PD No. 1836 empowered the President to issue orders of arrest or commitment during martial law or when the privilege of habeas corpus is suspended.
EO No. 59 states that under PD No. 1836, arrested or detained persons could not be released until so ordered by the former President or his duly authorized representative.
EO No. 59 declares that the authorizations under the repealed decrees (longer delivery, arrest/commitment orders, and preventive detention) undermine rights and are patently inconsistent with Proclamation No. 3.
Section 2 provides that EO No. 59 “shall take effect immediately,” meaning the repeal takes effect without waiting for publication or a later date (subject to the usual rules of effectivity under the Civil Code/administrative law). As a practical matter for students, it signals immediate cessation of reliance on the repealed authorities.
It is not limited to the decrees alone; it also repeals “the rules, regulations and instructions issued to implement” those decrees.
It refers to the factual grounds used under PD No. 1836 to justify extraordinary measures like arrest or commitment orders. EO No. 59 highlights that these powers were tied to public safety and the alleged need to quell or prevent rebellion or invasion.
EO No. 59 explains that PD No. 1877-A authorized preventive detention not only against persons covered by PD No. 1877, but also against persons who committed additional enumerated crimes and against those whose arrest and detention, in the former President’s judgment, were required by public safety to repel or quell the alleged rebellion.
EO No. 59 states that the decrees were based on Proclamation Nos. 2045 and 2045-A, and that those bases (and the National Security Code incorporating PD No. 1404) were repealed.
EO No. 59 flags (1) longer delivery periods for arrested persons, (2) presidential issuance of arrest/commitment orders during martial law or habeas corpus suspension, and (3) preventive detention actions that could restrain liberty for periods under conditions set by the former President.
EO No. 59 is a remedial/rights-protective measure. It does not define crimes or penalties; instead it repeals extraordinary detention authorities and their implementing rules, citing inconsistency with guarantees of rights and the mandate to provide remedies against violations.
They indicate a policy shift toward effective guarantees of rights and freedoms and provision of remedies against violations, prioritizing rights protections over emergency-style detention powers.
EO No. 59 was signed by President Corazon C. Aquino, with Joker P. Arroyo as Executive Secretary.