High Court dismisses alien’s petition vs BI

Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez said the Supreme Court has upheld the power of the immigration commissioner to order the arrest and detention of aliens charged with violating the country’s immigration laws.

The High Tribunal, in a five-page decision penned by Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, dismissed for lack of merit the petition for habeas corpus of a French national, who was arrested by agents of the Bureau of Immigration for being an illegal alien.

Named as respondents in the petition filed by Lucein Tran Van Nghia were Rodriguez, immigration intelligence chief Angelito Tan and several jail guards of the bureau.

The French national alleged that his arrest and continued detention were illegal and asked the High Court to order his release by issuing a writ of habeas corpus.

But the Supreme Court ruled that Nghia’s petition was "utterly devoid of merit," citing the rules of court that a writ of habeas corpus cannot be issued to persons charged with an offense in the Philippines.

Records showed that Nghia was ordered deported after his arrest in 1998 by immigration agents while he was attending a court hearing in Pasay City.

He was previously deported to Paris on April 11, 1996, but managed to re-enter the country in 1997 by using a fictitious name.

Before bringing his case to the Supreme Court, Nghia filed a petition for habeas corpus with the Manila regional trial court which denied it for lack of merit. — Rey Arquiza