CA Orders Authorities to Explain Lee’s Detention

The Court of Appeals Special First Division issued a writ of habeas corpus Tuesday commanding the authorities to produce Globe Asiatique Chairman Delfin Lee before the court and explain the legality of his detention.

The writ was penned by Associate Justice Manuel Barrios, with concurrence of Associate Justices Normandie Pizarro and Stephen Cruz.

The CA ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to bring Lee in a hearing on Wednesday on his petition over his alleged illegal arrest.

In a two-page ruling, the appeals court found sufficient basis on the property developer’s move. “Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the (NBI and the PNP) are directed to produce the body of the petitioner before this Court on 12 March 2014, 10 a.m… and to show cause why the relief sought in the petition should not be granted,” the CA ruling said.

The writ of Habeas Corpus is a legal remedy that grants a person the right to seek relief from unlawful detention. It is a Constitutional guarantee that safeguards individual freedom against arbitrary government action.

The court’s order of the writ of habeas corpus was addressed to the regional director of the NBI in Central Luzon and Chief Inspector Rafael de Lero, the police officer who led the team that arrested Lee.

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