In a historic move, Supreme Court justices is set to hold a virtual special en banc session on Friday to discuss petitions seeking the release of prisoners as well as President Rodrigo Duterte’s medical records.
“Atty. Ed Aricheta, the Clerk of Court En Banc, confirms the meeting of the Supreme Court En Banc on April 17, 2020,” SC spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka said in a message Wednesday.
Hosaka confirmed that this is the very first time that the SC magistrates will hold an en banc session via online.
“We still don’t know what platform will be used. Our MISO [Management Information System Office] is handling the technical aspect taking into consideration security concerns,” he added.
Since the start of the Luzon lockdown, the SC has been operating with a skeleton staff.
Hosaka, however, did not disclose what the SC magistrates will discuss as he is “not privy as to the agenda for the said meeting.”
On April 13, lawyer Dino de Leon on April 13 asked the Supreme Court to compel President Duterte to disclose within seven days his latest medical and psychological and psychiatric exam results, health bulletins, and other health records since he assumed office.
“The ponentes are requested to prepare their respective recommendations and submit and circulate the same to the justices not later than Thursday, April 16, in time for deliberation on Friday,” the Chief Justice said in the note to his colleagues.
Other sources said that the Supreme Court may also deliberate on the petition seeking for the temporary release of vulnerable prisoners as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus disease pandemic with the extension of the effectivity of the Enhanced Community Quarantine to April 30.
The special session earlier scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. Sources revealed that the SC will tackle on the petition for the temporary release of elderly and sickly prisoners during tomorrow’s video conference meeting.
Last week, several detainees in crowded jails have petitioned the high court to allow their temporary release on bail or recognizance, saying their age, existing illnesses, and poor prison conditions place them at risk of contracting the virus.
“Needless to say, the continued incarceration of petitioners who are sick and elderly would be a virtual death sentence,” the petitioners argued.
They said that their continued detention despite their medical condition is “tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment, which the 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits.”
The petitioners assured the SC justices that they will not evade trial once released.
Also pending is the controversial petition for quo warranto seeking to forfeit the franchise of the media giant ABS-CBN and its subsidiary.
The SC was supposed to resume deliberations on the case during its summer session in Baguio City on April 14, but the Luzon-wide lockdown prompted the SC justices to cancel its summer session.
