In a one-page order, Judge Lydia Querubin Layosa of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 217 dismissed the petition of Emad Abdul Hussain Ibrahim, Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Marzooq and Saad Khashanmutar Tlaa, all Iraqi nationals, for lack of jurisdiction.
"The issues brought by this petition on the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) non-action on their petition for bail and their refugee status as ground for non-deportation are not issues falling within the authority of the court in a petition for habeas corpus and this court has no jurisdiction to pass upon it," Judge Layosa said.
The three Iraqis filed the petition to release them on bail from the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame where they are detained for more than seven months now.
They said that they should be released on bail like the BI’s decision on the eight other suspected terrorists who were also arrested by the BI, PNP Intelligence Group, Task Force Sanglahi and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in a series of operations conducted from March 17 to 20 this year.
Their petition for habeas corpus was also denied by Judge Leah Regala of QC RTC Branch 226 last April since charges have already been filed against them prior to the filing of their petition.
Intelligence reports of the PNP linked the Iraqis to terrorist activities reportedly to be staged in the country. They were also found violating the provisions of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 for either working or doing business without permit. Some of them also had expired visas or included in the list of blacklisted foreigners.
The three Iraqis sought court intervention since the BI has yet to resolve their joint motion to release them on bail.
They pointed out that their refugee status has not yet been revoked by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is the sole authority to effect its revocation, noting that the BI has no right to deport them.
However, Judge Layosa did not give credence to their plea since the three Iraqis are under the BI’s custody.