G.R. No. L-56893. May 3, 1985.
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS IN BEHALF OF PEDRO SISON, JR., PEDRO SISON, SR., petitioner, vs. MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, and DIRECTOR OF PRISONS, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Pedro Sison, Sr. filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of his son, Pedro Sison, Jr., who was arrested and detained by agents of the Criminal Intelligence Service. The arrest was presumably executed pursuant to an Arrest, Search and Seizure Order (ASSO) issued by the Ministry of National Defense. The petition alleged that no formal complaint or information was subsequently filed in any court against the detainee, nor was there any judicial writ or order to justify his continued imprisonment, thereby rendering his detention unlawful.
In their Return, respondents confirmed that ASSO No. 4745 was issued against Pedro Sison, Jr. and others for allegedly taking high-powered firearms from a military facility. The detainee was initially held at Camp Crame and later transferred to the New Bilibid Prisons after his case was endorsed to the Ministry of Justice and subsequently to the Tanodbayan pursuant to General Order No. 69. Respondents admitted that the Tanodbayan had not yet resolved whether to file charges or dismiss the case, and they prayed for an opportunity to secure a final decision from that office.

ISSUE

Whether the continued detention of Pedro Sison, Jr. without any formal charges filed in court is lawful, thereby warranting the grant of the writ of habeas corpus.

RULING

The Supreme Court, acting on the petition, issued the writ and conducted a hearing. Considering the respondents’ return and their prayer for a brief period to secure a resolution from the Tanodbayan, and in light of the manifestation from petitioner’s counsel offering to take custody of the detainee on his own recognizance, the Court resolved to order the provisional release of Pedro Sison, Jr. on such recognizance. The Court simultaneously required the Solicitor General to manifest within ten days whether a criminal charge had finally been filed.
An order for the detainee’s immediate release was issued on June 4, 1981, unless other lawful grounds for detention existed. Subsequently, on June 11, 1981, the Office of the Solicitor General manifested that an information for unlawful sale/disposition of firearms had been filed against Pedro Sison, Jr. and his co-accused. Given these supervening events—the release of the detainee followed by the formal filing of charges—the petition for habeas corpus was rendered moot and academic. The primary objective of the writ, which is to inquire into the legality of a detention absent formal charges, was overtaken by the filing of the information, which provided a judicial basis for any future proceedings. Consequently, the Court dismissed the case.