EDITORIAL - Right to speedy trial  

The writ of habeas corpus is a legal recourse that can be invoked as protection from unlawful or indefinite detention. The privilege can be suspended in cases of rebellion or insurrection; it was suspended by the elder Ferdinand Marcos when he declared martial law in 1972.

With the invocation of the writ, a court – in the case of the Philippines, the Supreme Court – can order jail custodians to present the petitioner for legal determination of whether the detention is unlawful.

Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, the chief of staff of Juan Ponce Enrile when he was a senator, invoked the privilege of the writ. Last Thursday night, she won her provisional liberty. The Supreme Court granted the writ, explaining that her constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated and her detention for nearly nine years had “become oppressive thus infringing upon her right to liberty.”

Enrile, now the chief legal counsel of President Marcos, was arrested together with Reyes in 2014 for graft and plunder. They are accused of pocketing P172.8 million in kickbacks from 2004 to 2010 from his Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel using bogus non-government organizations set up by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles. But Enrile was placed under “hospital arrest” and in August 2015 was allowed to post bail under humanitarian grounds on account of his age and health. Reyes was held without bail at the Taguig City Jail at Camp Bagong Diwa in July 2014.

Reyes sought bail also on humanitarian grounds in 2020, but the Sandiganbayan Third Division voted 3-2 to deny it. In January 2021, she filed the petition for the writ of habeas corpus, citing Section 14, Article III of the Constitution, which entitles those facing criminal charges to “a speedy, impartial, and public trial.” The SC agreed with her.

Former SC spokesman Theodore Te said the writ is normally a privilege that cannot be availed of by persons still undergoing trial. The “new interim writ” has the effect of bail, without the required monetary element, and can affect other cases that have been languishing in court, Te said. He cited the case of former senator Leila de Lima, who has been held without bail at Camp Crame since 2017 on drug-related charges.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said his office is studying the implications of the SC ruling on other cases – and there are many, considering the slow court adjudication that is the norm in this country. Offhand, however, Guevarra expressed belief that the new SC ruling cannot serve as a “blanket precedent” but must be applied “on a case-to-case basis.” The best way to find out is to test the ruling on other cases.