NBI told to comment on habeas corpus plea for Marvin Miranda, alleged conspirator in Degamo slay
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to comment on the plea questioning the detention of Marvin Miranda, tagged as one of the masterminds in the brazen assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.
In a one-page order released Thursday, the SC’s First Division directed the NBI to comment within ten days on the Petition for Issuance of Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Conchita Miranda, seeking a release order for her son.
Habeas corpus literally translates to “produce the body.” It is an order to present a person before the court to determine if the arrest or imprisonment is legal or if the inmate must be released from custody.
The SC order stressed that the NBI has been directed to submit a comment and “not to file a motion to dismiss.”
'Illegal arrest'
Conchita, reportedly the mother of Marvin as noted by state-run PTV4, also sought for a protection order to be issued in the interim to prohibit the NBI “from committing or attempting to commit any act violative of the rights” of Marvin. She also sought an order to “suppress any evidence which emanated from his illegal arrest.”
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has named Marvin Miranda, a military reservist, as a co-mastermind of suspended Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental) in the killing of Degamo in early March.
Remulla said Miranda was responsible for contracting people and gathering firearms. He was said to have been a long-time aide of Teves.
The National Bureau of Investigation said Miranda was arrested on March 31 in Mayabay, Barbasa, Antique by a composite team composed of members of the bureau, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The NBI added they have information that Miranda slipped away from Negros Oriental and had been in Antique province from March 23 until he was arrested on Friday.
The arrest was done weeks after the Degamo assassination.
But Remulla has earlier insisted that the arrest may fall under a "hot pursuit" operation since authorities have been chasing Miranda starting March 4, the day of the killing. "That's why we went after him immediately because he evaded us quickly," he said in Filipino.
One of the grounds cited under the Revised Rules for Criminal Procedure for arrest without a warrant is when an officer or private person has probable cause, based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances, that the person to be arrested has just committed an offense.
Law enforcement has in the past stretched the definition of hot pursuit to the arrest of suspects long after the crime had been committed.
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