1

FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 139789. May 12, 2000
ERLINDA K. ILUSORIO, petitioner, vs. ERLINDA I. BILDNER and SYLVIA K. ILUSORIO, JOHN DOE
and JANE DOE, respondents. Mesm
G.R. No. 139808. May 12, 2000
POTENCIANO ILUSORIO, MA. ERLINDA I. BILDNER, and SYLVIA ILUSORIO, petitioners, vs. COURT
OF APPEALS and ERLINDA K. ILUSORIO, respondents.
D E C I S I O N
PARDO, J.:
May a wife secure a writ of habeas corpus to compel her husband to live with her in conjugal bliss? The
answer is no. Marital rights including coverture and living in conjugal dwelling may not be enforced by the
extra-ordinary writ of habeas corpus.
A writ of habeas corpus extends to all cases of illegal confinement or detention,
1
or by which the rightful
custody of a person is withheld from the one entitled thereto.
2
Slx
"Habeas corpus is a writ directed to the person detaining another, commanding him to produce the body
of the prisoner at a designated time and place, with the day and cause of his capture and detention, to do,
submit to, and receive whatsoever the court or judge awarding the writ shall consider in that behalf."
3

It is a high prerogative, common-law writ, of ancient origin, the great object of which is the liberation of
those who may be imprisoned without sufficient cause.
4
It is issued when one is deprived of liberty or is
wrongfully prevented from exercising legal custody over another person.
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The petition of Erlinda K. Ilusorio
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is to reverse the decision
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of the Court of Appeals and its
resolution
8
dismissing the application for habeas corpus to have the custody of her husband, lawyer
Potenciano Ilusorio and enforce consortium as the wife.
On the other hand, the petition of Potenciano Ilusorio
9
is to annul that portion of the decision of the Court
of Appeals giving Erlinda K. Ilusorio visitation rights to her husband and to enjoin Erlinda and the Court of
Appeals from enforcing the visitation rights.
The undisputed facts are as follows: Scslx
Erlinda Kalaw Ilusorio is the wife of lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio.
Potenciano Ilusorio is about 86 years of age possessed of extensive property valued at millions of pesos.
For many years, lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio was Chairman of the Board and President of Baguio Country
Club.
On July 11, 1942, Erlinda Kalaw and Potenciano Ilusorio contracted matrimony and lived together for a
period of thirty (30) years. In 1972, they separated from bed and board for undisclosed reasons.
Potenciano lived at Urdaneta Condominium, Ayala Ave., Makati City when he was in Manila and at
Ilusorio Penthouse, Baguio Country Club when he was in Baguio City. On the other hand, Erlinda lived in
Antipolo City.
2


Out of their marriage, the spouses had six (6) children, namely: Ramon Ilusorio (age 55); Erlinda Ilusorio
Bildner (age 52); Maximo (age 50); Sylvia (age 49); Marietta (age 48); and Shereen (age 39).
On December 30, 1997, upon Potencianos arrival from the United States, he stayed with Erlinda for
about five (5) months in Antipolo City. The children, Sylvia and Erlinda (Lin), alleged that during this time,
their mother gave Potenciano an overdose of 200 mg instead of 100 mg Zoloft, an antidepressant drug
prescribed by his doctor in New York, U.S.A. As a consequence, Potencianos health deteriorated.
On February 25, 1998, Erlinda filed with the Regional Trial Court, Antipolo City a petition
10
for
guardianship over the person and property of Potenciano Ilusorio due to the latters advanced age, frail
health, poor eyesight and impaired judgment.
On May 31, 1998, after attending a corporate meeting in Baguio City, Potenciano Ilusorio did not return to
Antipolo City and instead lived at Cleveland Condominium, Makati. Slxsc
On March 11, 1999, Erlinda filed with the Court of Appeals a petition for habeas corpus to have the
custody of lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio. She alleged that respondents
11
refused petitioners demands to
see and visit her husband and prohibited Potenciano from returning to Antipolo City.
After due hearing, on April 5, 1999, the Court of Appeals rendered decision the dispositive portion of
which reads:
"WHEREFORE, in the light of the foregoing disquisitions, judgment is hereby rendered:
"(1) Ordering, for humanitarian consideration and upon petitioners manifestation, respondents Erlinda K.
Ilusorio Bildner and Sylvia Ilusorio-Yap, the administrator of Cleveland Condominium or anywhere in its
place, his guards and Potenciano Ilusorios staff especially Ms. Aurora Montemayor to allow visitation
rights to Potenciano Ilusorios wife, Erlinda Ilusorio and all her children, notwithstanding any list limiting
visitors thereof, under penalty of contempt in case of violation of refusal thereof; xxx
"(2) ORDERING that the writ of habeas corpus previously issued be recalled and the herein petition for
habeas corpus be DENIED DUE COURSE, as it is hereby DISMISSED for lack of unlawful restraint or
detention of the subject of the petition.
"SO ORDERED."
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Hence, the two petitions, which were consolidated and are herein jointly decided.
As heretofore stated, a writ of habeas corpus extends to all cases of illegal confinement or detention,
13
or
by which the rightful custody of a person is withheld from the one entitled thereto. It is available where a
person continues to be unlawfully denied of one or more of his constitutional freedoms, where there is
denial of due process, where the restraints are not merely involuntary but are unnecessary, and where a
deprivation of freedom originally valid has later become arbitrary.
14
It is devised as a speedy and effectual
remedy to relieve persons from unlawful restraint, as the best and only sufficient defense of personal
freedom.
15
Jksm
The essential object and purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to inquire into all manner of involuntary
restraint, and to relieve a person therefrom if such restraint is illegal.
16

To justify the grant of the petition, the restraint of liberty must be an illegal and involuntary deprivation of
freedom of action.
17
The illegal restraint of liberty must be actual and effective, not merely nominal or
moral.
18

3


The evidence shows that there was no actual and effective detention or deprivation of lawyer Potenciano
Ilusorios liberty that would justify the issuance of the writ. The fact that lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio is
about 86 years of age, or under medication does not necessarily render him mentally incapacitated.
Soundness of mind does not hinge on age or medical condition but on the capacity of the individual to
discern his actions.
After due hearing, the Court of Appeals concluded that there was no unlawful restraint on his liberty.
The Court of Appeals also observed that lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio did not request the administrator of
the Cleveland Condominium not to allow his wife and other children from seeing or visiting him. He made
it clear that he did not object to seeing them.
As to lawyer Potenciano Ilusorios mental state, the Court of Appeals observed that he was of sound and
alert mind, having answered all the relevant questions to the satisfaction of the court.
Being of sound mind, he is thus possessed with the capacity to make choices. In this case, the crucial
choices revolve on his residence and the people he opts to see or live with. The choices he made may
not appeal to some of his family members but these are choices which exclusively belong to Potenciano.
He made it clear before the Court of Appeals that he was not prevented from leaving his house or seeing
people. With that declaration, and absent any true restraint on his liberty, we have no reason to reverse
the findings of the Court of Appeals.
With his full mental capacity coupled with the right of choice, Potenciano Ilusorio may not be the subject
of visitation rights against his free choice. Otherwise, we will deprive him of his right to privacy. Needless
to say, this will run against his fundamental constitutional right. Es m
The Court of Appeals exceeded its authority when it awarded visitation rights in a petition for habeas
corpus where Erlinda never even prayed for such right. The ruling is not consistent with the finding of
subjects sanity.
When the court ordered the grant of visitation rights, it also emphasized that the same shall be enforced
under penalty of contempt in case of violation or refusal to comply. Such assertion of raw, naked power is
unnecessary.
The Court of Appeals missed the fact that the case did not involve the right of a parent to visit a minor
child but the right of a wife to visit a husband. In case the husband refuses to see his wife for private
reasons, he is at liberty to do so without threat of any penalty attached to the exercise of his right.
No court is empowered as a judicial authority to compel a husband to live with his wife. Coverture cannot
be enforced by compulsion of a writ of habeas corpus carried out by sheriffs or by any other mesne
process. That is a matter beyond judicial authority and is best left to the man and womans free choice.
WHEREFORE, in G. R. No. 139789, the Court DISMISSES the petition for lack of merit. No costs.
In G. R. No. 139808, the Court GRANTS the petition and nullifies the decision of the Court of Appeals
insofar as it gives visitation rights to respondent Erlinda K. Ilusorio. No costs.
SO ORDERED.