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G.R. No. L-14639 March 25, 1919ZACARIAS VILLAVICENCIO, ET AL. vs. JUSTO LUKBAN, ET AL.

^ 

The writ of Habeas Corpus was filed by the petitioner, with the prayer that the respondent produce around 170
women whom Justo Lukban et, al deported to Davao. Liberty of abode was also raised versus the power of the
executive of the Municipality in deporting the women without their knowledge in his capacity as Mayor.

 

Justo Lukban as Manila City's Mayor together with Anton Hohmann, the city's Chief of Police, took custody of about
170 women at the night of October 25 beyond the latters consent and knowledge and thereafter were shipped to
Mindanao specifically in Davao where they were signed as laborers. Said women are inmates of the houses of
prostitution situated in Gardenia Street, in the district of Sampaloc.

That when the petitioner filed for habeas corpus, the respondent moved to dismiss the case saying that those
women were already out of their jurisdiction and that , it should be filed in the city of Davao instead.

The court ruled in favor of the petitioner with the instructions;For the respondents to have fulfilled the court's order,
three optional courses were open: (1) They could have produced the bodies of the persons according to the
command of the writ; or (2) they could have shown by affidavit that on account of sickness or infirmity those
persons could not safely be brought before the court; or (3) they could have presented affidavits to show that the
parties in question or their attorney waived the right to be present.

Œ


The court concluded the case by granting the parties aggrieved the sum of 400 pesos each, plus 100 pesos for
nominal damage due to contempt of court. Reasoning further that if the chief executive of any municipality in the
Philippines could forcibly and illegally take a private citizen and place him beyond the boundaries of the
municipality, and then, when called upon to defend his official action, could calmly fold his hands and claim that the
person was under no restraint and that he, the official, had no jurisdiction over this other municipality.

We believe the true principle should be that, if the respondent is within the jurisdiction of the court and has it in his
power to obey the order of the court and thus to undo the wrong that he has inflicted, he should be compelled to do
so. Even if the party to whom the writ is addressed has illegally parted with the custody of a person before the
application for the writ is no reason why the writ should not issue. If the mayor and the chief of police, acting under
no authority of law, could deport these women from the city of Manila to Davao, the same officials must necessarily
have the same means to return them from Davao to Manila. The respondents, within the reach of process, may not
be permitted to restrain a fellow citizen of her liberty by forcing her to change her domicile and to avow the act with
impunity in the courts, while the person who has lost her birthright of liberty has no effective recourse. The great
writ of liberty may not thus be easily evaded.

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Justo Lukban, who was then the Mayor of the City of Manila, ordered the deportation of 170 prostitutes to Davao.
His reason for doing so was to preserve the morals of the people of Manila. He claimed that the prostitutes were
sent to Davao, purportedly, to work for an haciendero Feliciano Ynigo. The prostitutes were confined in houses
from October 16 to 18 of that year before being boarded, at the dead of night, in two boats bound for Davao. The
women were under the assumption that they were being transported to another police station while Ynigo, the
haciendero from Davao, had no idea that the women being sent to work for him were actually prostitutes.

The families of the prostitutes came forward to file charges against Lukban, Anton Hohmann, the Chief of Police,
and Francisco Sales, the Governor of Davao. They prayed for a writ of habeas corpus to be issued against the
respondents to compel them to bring back the 170 women who were deported to Mindanao against their will.

During the trial, it came out that, indeed, the women were deported without their consent. In effect, Lukban forcibly
assigned them a new domicile. Most of all, there was no law or order authorizing Lukban's deportation of the 170
prostitutes.

^ 

Whether we are a government of laws or a government of men.

Œ


We are clearly a government of laws. Lukban committed a grave abuse of discretion by deporting the prostitutes to
a new domicile against their will. There is no law expressly authorizing his action. On the contrary, there is a law
punishing public officials, not expressly authorized by law or regulation, who compels any person to change his
residence.

Furthermore, the prostitutes are still, as citizens of the Philippines, entitled to the same rights, as stipulated in the
Bill of Rights, as every other citizen. Their choice of profession should not be a cause for discrimination. It may
make some, like Lukban, quite uncomfortable but it does not authorize anyone to compel said prostitutes to isolate
themselves from the rest of the human race. These women have been deprived of their liberty by being exiled to
Davao without even being given the opportunity to collect their belongings or, worse, without even consenting to
being transported to Mindanao. For this, Lukban et al must be severely punished.

'"  '
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,

Facts
Ferdinand E. Marcos was deposed from the presidency via the non-violent ³people power´ revolution and forced
into exile. Pres. Corazon C. Aquino was declared President of the Phils under a revolutionary government.
However, the ratification of the 1987 Constitution further strengthened the legitimacy of Mrs Aquino¶s authority. The
country was far from being stabilized, though, as continued threats from various sectors ranging from the rebels to
the followers of the Marcoses and even those that were initiators of the people power revolution. The economy, too,
of the country has its own challenges as it fights to relieve itself of the devastating effect of the Marcos abuse or
accumulation of wealth and the accumulated foreign debt as a result of such abuses.

Mr. Marcos has signified, in his deathbed, to return to the Phils. But Mrs Aquino considering the dire consequences
to the nation of his return has stood firmly on the decision to bar the his and his family¶s return.