The Supreme Court has included in the agenda of its weekly en banc session on Tuesday the writ of amparo petition filed by Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and six of her detained subordinates which sought to bar the House of Representatives from resuming its inquiry into the province’s allegedly anomalous purchase of P66.45 million worth of vehicles.
A senior court official, who requested anonymity, on Monday said that the petition of Marcos and the so-called Ilocos Six had already been assigned to a magistrate as part of the tribunal’s process of handling urgent pleadings.
“It’s normal for urgent motions like the one filed by Marcos and the Ilocos Six to be tackled immediately by the justices during their full-court session,” the source told the Inquirer.
Aside from asking for a protection order, the daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos also petitioned the 15-member tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the House committee on good government and public accountability from continuing its investigation, which the governor said was only intended to malign her reputation.
The writ of amparo is a legal remedy for individuals whose “right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.”
Under the rules for the issuance of the writ, the court or judge assigned to handle such plea “shall immediately order the issuance of the writ if on its face it ought to issue.”
In seeking the high court’s intervention, Marcos and the “Ilocos Six” said the House leadership violated their constitutional rights as the legislative probe had turned into a “full-blown inquisition aimed at seeking coerced confessions.”