Give Duterte power to suspend writ of habeas corpus – Gordon
Congress should pass a law giving President Rodrigo Duterte emergency powers suspending the writ of the habeas corpus against drugs and terrorism.
Senator Richard Gordon said he would initiate such proposal by filing a bill next week asking lawmakers to grant the necessary powers following Duterte’s signing of Proclamation No. 55, declaring the country under a state of national emergency.
Gordon said the measure would “enhance” the President’s decree but at the same time prevent abuses that may spill over given the intensity of the government’s all-out campaign against illegal drugs and terrorism.
“I will propose that. We need to give the President, pursuant to national policy, a law he could use to quell illegal drugs and terrorism without killing suspects. All he has to do is just enforce a law,” Gordon said.
“I’d rather have Congress in control, than just one man,” he enthused.
Last Tuesday, Malacañang released the guidelines to be observed while the State of National Emergency on Account of Lawless Violence in Mindanao is in effect. Memorandum Order (MO) No. 3 provides guidelines for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the implementation of measures to suppress and prevent lawless violence.
Section 5 of the MO states that no warrantless arrests shall be effected unless the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense in front of an arresting officer; when an offense has just been committed and the arresting officer has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed the offense; when the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgement or temporarily confined while his case is pending; and when the person arrested or to be arrested has voluntarily waived his right against warrantless arrests.
The MO also provided that existing rules and jurisprudence shall be strictly observed when effecting warrantless searches and seizures particularly when the person to be searched has consented to the search or has voluntarily waived his right against warrantless searches and seizures; as an incident to a lawful arrest, and the search is contemporaneous to the arrest and within a permissible area of search; search of vessels and aircraft for violation of immigration or customs laws; when the objects to be seized are in plain view; stop-and-frisk situations; and search arising from exigent and emergency circumstances.