The Supreme Court has remanded to trial courts the petition of elderly and sick detainees to be released amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The SC Public Information Office on Thursday confirmed that a full court issued a decision referring to the petition of 22 elderly and sickly detainees seeking for release on humanitarian grounds.
The SC PIO said the high tribunal treated the petition as an application for bail, and left it to the trial courts where the petitioners’ cases are pending to hear and resolve.
“The Court noted that the Petitioners have all been charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua. As such, they are not entitled to bail as a matter of right under the Constitution,” the SC said in a statement.
“Hence, in order for the Petitioners to be granted bail, it is imperative to conduct hearings and receive evidence in order to weigh the strength of the prosecution’s evidence as to the guilt of the Petitioners. These proceedings are within the competence of the trial courts,” it added.
The SC ordered the concerned trial courts to “conduct the necessary proceedings and resolve the incidents immediately.”
According to the SC PIO, the proceedings before the SC are now considered “closed and terminated.”
In their petition, the detainees asked the SC to order their release, citing their age, existing illnesses, and in one case, pregnancy, as added COVID-19 risk factors in crowded jails.
The pregnant detainee, activist Reina Mae Nasino, gave birth while the petition was pending before the SC. A local court has ordered that she be separated from her child.
The high court was unanimous in treating the petition as an application for bail or recognizance.
Both the Bureau of Corrections and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology have reported hundreds of COVID-19 cases among inmates in their facilities.
The SC decision, however, was dated July 28, more than three months since the 22 detainees sought humanitarian release on April 8, but the issuance of the order was made only on Thursday, September 10.