G.R. No. 227635 , October 15, 2019
LEILA M. DE LIMA, PETITIONER, VS. PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. DUTERTE, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

Senator Leila M. De Lima filed a Petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas data against President Rodrigo R. Duterte. She sought to enjoin him from committing acts that allegedly violated her right to life, liberty, and security. The petition was based on a series of public statements made by President Duterte after Senator De Lima criticized him in a Senate privilege speech denouncing alleged extrajudicial killings under his administration’s drug policy. The statements included threats to destroy her in public, accusations of her living an immoral life by having an affair with her married driver, insinuations of her involvement in illegal drugs, and demeaning comments about her womanhood. Senator De Lima alleged these statements violated her right to privacy and were grounds for the writ. She prayed for reliefs including an injunction against collecting information about her private life, disclosure of the sources and methods of surveillance against her, deletion of such data, and an injunction against further damaging public statements.

ISSUE

Whether the President can invoke immunity from suit in a petition for a writ of habeas data.

RULING

The Supreme Court, in its Resolution, dismissed the Petition without giving due course or passing on the merits, based on the finding that President Duterte is absolutely immune from any suit during his incumbency. In his Separate Concurring Opinion, Justice Leonen concurred in the result but provided a detailed analysis. He opined that presidential immunity from suit extends only to civil, criminal, and administrative liability. A proceeding for a writ of habeas data does not determine such liability; it only ascertains the accountability and responsibility of a public official. Therefore, the President cannot invoke immunity from suit in such a petition. However, Justice Leonen clarified that the proper respondent in a habeas data case concerning pronouncements made by the President in an official capacity is the Executive Secretary, not the President, following the doctrine that the President should not be impleaded in any suit during incumbency. He emphasized that after a President’s incumbency, immunity can no longer be pleaded for any case filed.