WHEN DEPORTATION IS FINAL AND EXECUTORY

The Supreme Court has ruled that an alien can be deported in either of one of two ways.

Firstly, the alien can be deported under the Immigration Act, Section
37, by specifying any of the thirteen (13) grounds there enumerated.

Section 37, para . (c) provides: “No alien shall be deported without
being informed of the specific grounds for deportation nor without
being given a hearing under Rules of Procedure to be prescribed by the
Commissioner of Immigration and Deportation.”

Further, Section 8-A provides:  “The Board of Commissioners shall
have exclusive jurisdiction over all deportation cases and its decision
shall become final and executory after 30 days from promulgation, unless
within such period the President shall issue an order to the contrary.”

Secondly, the alien can be deported under the Administrative Code,
Section 69, after prior investigation. Section 69 provides: “In such
case the person concerned shall be Informed of the charge or charges
against him and he shall be allowed not less than three; (3) days for
the preparation of his defense.  He shall also have the right to be
heard by himself or counsel, to produce witnesses in his own behalf, and
to cross-examine the opposing witnesses.”

In brief, Philippine law does not allow for summary deportation,
i.e., Philippine law requires notice and hearing before an alien can be
deported.  However, if judgment of deportation is promulgated under the
Administrative Code, it is immediately executory, and the alien can be
deported without waiting for the thirty-day period to expire.

Adopted: 2 June 1988

(SGD.) MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO
Commissioner