PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1877, July 21, 1983
PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE, OF A PREVENTIVE DETENTION ACTION AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
of the Writ of Habeas Corpus remain suspended in the two autonomous regions of
Mindanao and in all other places with respect to “persons at present detained as
well as others who may hereafter be similarly detained for the crimes of
insurrection or rebellion, subversion, conspiracy or proposal to commit such
crimes, and for all other crimes and offenses committed by them in furtherance
or on the occasion thereof, or Incident thereto, or in connection
therewith;”
WHEREAS, the aforesaid Proclamation, authorizing the
President to cause the preventive detention of persons engaged in, or charged
with, the crimes or offenses mentioned in said Proclamation, has been upheld by
the Supreme Court;
WHEREAS, the penalties for the crimes of rebellion, sedition
and related crimes and the conspiracy and/or proposal to commit said crimes
under Articles 135, 136, 138, 140, 141 and 142 of the Revised Penal Code, have
been increased by Presidential Decree 1834 characterizing said crimes as capital
offenses;
WHEREAS, the penalties for subversion have likewise been
increased by Presidential Decree No. 1835 making said crimes and the conspiracy
and/or proposal to commit the same as capital offenses;
WHEREAS, there are occasions where an offender has
definitely committed any or all of the crimes against the public order and/or
subversion, and/or continues or threatens to continue to commit the same but the
evidence in possession of competent authorities to warrant his arrest and
prosecution in Court cannot be divulged in advance of judicial processes without
prejudice to the state such as endangering covert
intelligence/counter-insurgency operations, particularly the lives of
intelligence and undercover agents;
WHEREAS, the Government and the people are at the same time
aware that public safety continues to require a degree of capability in deal
adequately with elements who persist in endeavoring overthrow the Government by
violent means and to supplant and substitute the existing political, social,
economic and legal order with an entirely new one whose form of government,
system of laws, religion, concept of individual rights and family precepts are
based on teachings and beliefs other than the democratic form of government;
NOW, THEREFOR, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
decree:
SECTION 1. All cases involving the crimes of insurrection,
rebellion, subversion, conspiracy or proposal to commit such crimes, and all
other crimes or offenses emitted in furtherance thereof, or the occasion
thereof, or incident thereto or in connection therewith, shall be referred to
the Provincial or City Fiscal, or to the proper Court for preliminary
examination or investigation in accordance with existing laws.
SEC. 2. Only upon proper warrant issued by the Court or
other responsible officer as may be authorized by law, after examination under
oath or affirmation of the complainant and his witness, shall the person or
persons charged with the above mentioned crimes be arrested and detained;
Provided, however, That should a military commander or the head of a law
enforcement agency ascertain that the persons to be arrested has/have
committed
The above-mentioned crimes, or would probably escape or commit
further acts which would endanger public order and safety as well as the
stability of the state before and proper warrant could be obtained, the said
military commander or the head of law enforcement agency may apply to the
President of the Philippines for a preventive detention action against the
person or persons ascertained to be participants in the commission of the crimes
referred to in Section 1 hereof, under the following circumstances:
- When result to judicial processes is not possible or expedient without
endangering public order and safety; - When in the judgment of the President of the Philippines to apply for a
judicial warrant may prejudice peace and order and the safety of the state like
when it may jeopardize the continued covert intelligence/counter insurgency
operations of the Government, or endanger the lives of intelligence and
undercover agents whose identities would be revealed by the evidence against the
person or persons covered by a preventive detention action.
SEC. 3. When issued, the preventive detention action shall
constitute authority to arrest the subject person or persons, and to
preventively detain him or them for a period not exceeding one year and
sequester all arms, equipment or property used or to be used in the commission
of the crime or crimes.
SEC. 4. The President may constitute a review committee
composed of such civilian and/or government lawyers, as he may designate to
evaluate the evidence against the person or persons covered by preventive
detention action. The review committee shall submit its recommendation to the
President before the expiration of the one year period of detention. The
President may either order the release, authorize the further detention of, or
direct the filing of the proper information in Court against, the person or
persons subject of a preventive detention action, on the basis of the
recommendation of the review committee.
SEC. 5. The status of all pending: cases of persons
presently detained under a presidential commitment order or its derivatives
shall be reviewed by the President or by the review committee to be constituted
by him which shall make the appropriate recommendations on said cases. On the
basis of his findings or the recommendations of the review committee, the
President may either order the release, authorize the further detention of or
direct the filing of the proper information in Court against said person or
persons.
SEC. 6. In case the President of the Philippines directs the
further detention of a person or persons covered by a preventive detention
action, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Defense shall
submit periodic status reports on such person or persons, together with the
appropriate recommendation, to the President. The President may reconstitute the
review committee at any time to further review and evaluate the case(s) of the
person or persons involved.
SEC. 7. If the person or persons covered by a preventive
detention action is/are acquitted or has/have served sentence after conviction,
he or they shall be released from proper custody, Provided that if in
the meantime there is evidence of the detained person continuing to engage in
the acts for which he was detained he may be ordered further detained by the
President.
SEC. 8. The Minister of Defense shall promulgate the rules
and regulations to implement this Decree.
SEC. 9. All laws, decrees, letters of instructions,
executive or administrative orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with this
Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.
SEC. 10. This Decree shall take effect after fifteen (15)
days following its publication in the Official Gazette.
Done in the City of Manila, Philippines, this 21st day of July in the year of
Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-three.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President
Republic of the Philippines
By the President: (Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA Presidential Executive
Assistant