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Warrantless arrest, illegal detention
SUGGESTING the removal of the safeguard against warrantless arrests and illegal detention is no joking matter. Dictator Ferdinand Marcos suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in 1971, just one year before his declaration of martial law in 1972. This dark period saw over 70,000 people illegally arrested and detained by the dictatorship while thousands more went missing.
Is the current war on drugs of the Duterte administration a valid ground for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus? Let’s check the Constitution. Such is only allowed in case of invasion, rebellion or the requirements of public safety.
Given the extremely poor human rights records of our police and military, any suspension of the writ of habeas corpus makes it easier for those implementing the law to commit abuses.
Given the prevailing culture of impunity, removing the writ of habeas corpus, which gives one the right to challenge his or her arrest and detention in court, puts ordinary citizens at the mercy of abusive, trigger-happy and fascistic state security personnel. It raises specter of rights abuses such as the bloody US Embassy protest police dispersal, the excesses of the antidrug war which claimed the lives of thousands of people, the continuing killings of peasant leaders, indigenous peoples and activists, and the perceived militarization in the countryside. The violation of the people’s right of liberty will only institutionalize rather than solve lawlessness.
Trampling over people’s rights by suspending the writ of habeas corpus cannot solve rampant illegal drug use and criminality. Only by addressing poverty and injustice can the roots of the drug problem be resolved.
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