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SUPREME
Court (SC) Chief Justice Reynato Puno on Monday enjoined
justices and judges in Metro Manila to fully implement
the rules governing the issuance of the writ of amparo
in order to protect the people’s constitutional rights.
In his
opening remarks at the Lecture Forum on The Rule on the
Writ of Amparo for Regional Trial Court Judges of the
National Capital Region, Puno branded the writ of amparo
as the “greatest legal weapon” that will discourage
extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
“My
fellow judges and justices, the writ of amparo is the
greatest legal weapon to protect the constitutional
rights of our people. The protection of our people
depends on how well you will wield this weapon. This
weapon is now in your hands,” Puno said.
Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna, who served as lecturer,
told the justices and judges that under the rules
governing the issuance of the writ of amparo, there is
no presumption of regularity in the exercise of public
function.
The
concept assumes that government officials such as
members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the
Philippine National Police act within their authority
unless proven otherwise.
Azcuna,
best remembered for asking the 1991 bar examinees to
define the writ of amparo, explained that soldiers’
claim of presumption of regularity under the recently
approved rule is not available to evade responsibility.
Puno
acknowledged that the writ of amparo was unknown to the
members of the Judiciary until it was asked of the bar
examinees in 1991. Justice Azcuna, then the examiner,
had to be ordered to give credit to any answer proffered
by the candidates.
“It was
the first time that the dogma ‘ignorance of the law is
not an excuse’ was ignored. Little did we know that, 20
years later, the nation would look to the writ of amparo
to protect our people from the unabated extralegal
killings and enforced disappearances that stalk our
legal landscape,” Puno added.
Earlier,
the 15-man High Tribunal unanimously approved the rules
governing the issuance of the writ of amparo, which is
intended to address the alarming problem of
extrajudicial killings and involuntary disappearances.
The rules take effect October 24.
The writ
of amparo, unlike the writ of habeas corpus, will deny
authorities the means of raising the defense of simple
denial when they are sued to produce, before the courts,
the bodies of victims of involuntary disappearances.
Under
the rules, the petition for a writ of amparo may be
filed with the regional trial court of the place where
the incident of enforced disappearance was committed,
the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court or any justice
of such courts.
The Rule
also covers cases involving extralegal killings and
involuntary disappearances or threats already pending in
the trial and appellate court. Associate Justices Azcuna,
Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez and Dante Tinga served as
panelists during the discussion and open forum. |
