In re: Petition for Habeas Corpus of Wilfredo S. Sumulong-Torres; G.R. No. 122338; 25 Dec 1995; 251 SCRA 709

in Legal Chyme by

FACTS:
Wilfredo Torres was convicted of two counts of estafa and sentenced to serve a prison term up to November 02, 2000. He was granted pardon on the condition that he will “not again violate any of the penal laws of the Philippines.” Such conditional pardon was later cancelled on the recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Parole after he was charged of multiple counts of estafa.

ISSUE(S):
Whether or not a convict who breached his conditional pardon may avail of the writ of habeas corpus.

HELD:
NO. Habeas corpus lies only where the restraint of a person’s liberty has been judicially adjudged as illegal or unlawful. The incarceration of Torres remains legal considering that, were it not for the grant of conditional pardon which had been revoked because of a breach thereof, the determination of which is beyond judicial scrutiny, he would have served his final sentence for his final conviction until November 02, 2000.

Petition for habeas corpus is DISMISSED for lack of merit.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.