By: Rey G. Panaligan
The Supreme Court is set to deliberate today the petition of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and the six detained provincial officials for a Writ of Amparo against the “actual and threatened violations of their rights to liberty and security” by a committee of the House of Representatives.
In the case of Gov. Marcos, she has been threatened with arrest and detention by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability should she refuse to attend its inquiry into the P66.45-million purchase of motor vehicles by the provincial government in 2011 and 2012.
The six provincial officials have been detained since May 29 on a contempt citation by the committee members for their alleged refusal to answer satisfactorily the questions aired by legislators during the inquiry.
While the Court of Appeals has ordered the release of the six officials on a bail of P30,000 each, the House leadership refused to honor the release order and threatened them with detention until the adjournment of Congress in 2019.
The three CA justices who acted on the writ of habeas corpus filed by the six officials, now known as “Ilocos 6,” have been issued a show cause order by the committee to explain why they should not also be cited in contempt. They have also been threatened with disbarment.
The developments prompted Marcos and the six officials to file a petition with the SC last Thursday to protect them from arrest and continued detention, take cognizance of the habeas corpus case of the detained six provincial officials and to order their release, and to stop the House’s investigation on the province’s purchase of motor vehicles worth P66.45 million.