Zaldy Ampatuan’s bid to be released from Bilibid due to pandemic dismissed
MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the petition of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan to be released from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a nine-page decision promulgated on July 4, but issued to reporters on Sunday, the CA Special Division of Five junked the petition of Ampatuan, one of the co-accused in the Maguindanao massacre.
READ: Zaldy Ampatuan to appeal Maguindanao massacre guilty verdict to CA
Ampatuan’s petition for certiorari criticized the order of Jocelyn Solis-Reyes — presiding judge of Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, Branch 221 — which denied the petitioner to be freed from NBP for “lack of merit.”
The CA ruling, penned by Associate Justice Angelene Mary Quimpo-Sale, pointed out that the petition does not elaborate on the clear and present danger.
“‘Clear and present danger’ means that the evil consequence of the comment or utterance must be extremely serious and the degree of imminence extremely high before the utterance can be punished. The danger to be guarded against is the substantive evil sought to be prevented. It is a limitation on freedom of expression justified by the danger or evil of a substantive character that the state has a right to prevent. The danger must not only be clear but also present. In certain cases, the application of the clear and present danger rule was extended beyond the confines of freedom of expression to the realm of freedom of religion,” the ruling stated.
“In this case, the petition does not expound on how the clear and present danger rule applies to petitioner, when the issue raised herein neither involves the freedom of expression nor of religion,” it added.
The petitioner has likewise sought to be transferred from NBP to a hospital or other medical facility to protect him from COVID-19 infection.
However, the CA countered that Metro Manila is currently under the most lenient status of Alert Level 1 wherein COVID-19 case transmission is low and decreasing.
READ: Metro Manila stays under Alert Level 1 until July 15
Metro Manila’s neighboring provinces, cities, and municipalities are likewise under Alert Level 1, the CA noted.
Citing government data, the CA said that 27,879 of the almost 50,000 persons deprived of liberty were fully vaccinated as of March 14 and began getting booster shots.
“IN VIEW WHEREOF, the petition is hereby DISMISSED,” the decision read.
CA Special Division of Five members Associate Justices Ramon Cruz, Marie Christine Azcarraga Jacob, and Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon concurred with the ruling.
Associate Justice Geraldine Fiel-Macaraig, on the other hand, concurred “only in the result, with separate concurring opinion.”
