BY WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL Reporter

THE Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed on Wednesday the petition for habeas corpus filed by the relatives of the 43 health workers who have been in custody of the military in Morong, Rizal, since their arrest last month.

The appellate court’s Special Division, by a 3-2 vote, said that petitioners have already been criminally charged before the Regional Trial Court of Morong and as such “can no longer question their detention.”

“Once a person detained is duly charged in court, he may no longer question his detention through a petition for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be allowed after the party sought to be released had been charged before any court,” the court said in a 20-page decision written by Senior Associate Justice Portia Alino Hormachuelos.

The appellate court also cited the Supreme Court ruling in Ilagan v Enrile, which held that a writ of habeas corpus could no longer be availed of after an information or a case is filed against the accused and a warrant of arrest or an order of commitment has been issued by the court handling the case.

The 43 health workers were arrested by the military last month in Morong, Rizal.

The military claimed that the health workers were members of the New People’s Army and were undergoing explosive training, an allegation the workers had denied.

In their petition, the health workers claimed that the military used a defective search warrant when it entered the premises where they were undergoing community health training.

They added that the search warrant was issued by a Cavite court, which is outside the jurisdiction of Rizal province.

The appellate court explained that even if the arrest of a person is illegal, supervening event may prevent his release from detention under Section 4, Rule 102 of the Rules of Court, which states that “the writ is not allowed if the person subject of such petition is in the custody of an officer under process issued by a court or judge; or by virtue of a judgment or order of a court of record, and that court or judge had jurisdiction to issue the process, render the judgment, or make the order.”

Moreover, the appellate court did not take action on the motion seeking the transfer of the so-called Morong 43 from military custody in Camp Capinpin to police custody in Camp Crame. It said they would leave the matter to the Regional Trial Court of Morong to decide.

Concurring with Hormachuelos were Associate Justices Magdangal de Leon and Sesinando Villon. Associate Justices Normandie Pizarro and Francisco Acosta dissented.

In going against the majority decision, Pizarro maintained that the arrest and subsequent filing of charges against the health workers were all illegal because the arresting officers violated their constitutional rights.

“An illegal search and seizure, as well as an irregular inquest, cannot ripen into a valid information, otherwise referred to as ‘remedia’ or ‘curative’ informations,” Pizarro said.

Pizarro pointed out that the conduct of the search operations was highly irregular, citing several reasons: the search team entered the premises without prior notice and objection of the owner of the farmhouse where they were arrested; there were 300 heavily-armed police and military men who entered the farmhouse although the search warrant to be implemented was against only one person; the detainees were all brought to and confined at the driveway while the search was conducted; the explosives found at the farmhouse were not recovered from any of the detainees.

“Clearly . . . the detainees cannot be said to have been caught in the act [en flagrante delicto] of committing an offense. There is nary an overt act showing that the 43 detainees have committed, are committing, or are about to commit, a crime,” Pizarro added.

But the majority justices said any irregularities committed by the military have already been cured with the filing of criminal charges against the health workers and the subsequent issuance of commitment orders for their continued detention at Camp Capinpin.

The 43 health workers have been charged before the Regional Trial Court of Morong, Rizal, with violation of Presidential Decree 1866 as amended by Republic Act 8294 and Republic Act 9516 which imposes penalties for illegal possession of grenades and other explosives and the Commission on Election Resolution 8714 in relation to Article 261 (q) of the Election Code, which prohibits any person, unless authorized by the Comelec, to carry firearms outside his residence during the election period.