Imposition & Legality of House Arrest in the Philippines

By: Luna C. Ofenda

Technically the term house arrest refers more to the fact of detention of the body of a person than that the fact of arrest itself. In legal perspective, the Supreme Court in the case of People vs. Baloloy, 381 SCRA 31 held that: Arrest is the taking of a person into custody in order that he may be bound to answer for the commission of an offense, and it is made by an actual restraint of a person to be arrested, or by his submission to the person making an arrest. The import of house arrest is to make effective the legal custody and detention of a person in some other place other than the penal facilities established by the government for detention and rehabilitation of persons in conflict with law. The regular detention facilities are those which are under the control and supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology or the detention facilities of the Philippine National Police both such department are under the Department of Interior and Local Government. They are the institution which takes good care of the body of a person who are in custody of the law either due to conviction from an offense or those with pending criminal case before the courts of law. Corollarily, a person who is charged criminally for the commission of a crime or those who have been convicted by final judgment still enjoys certain rights which are guaranteed by our Constitution. These are basically embodied in the Bill of Rights under the 1987 Constitution. Thus, Article III, Setion 1, Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution provides, that:

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Sec. 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Equal protection simply means, people or things of the same class must be treated alike under the law. Moreover, every individual likewise enjoy security to life whether convicted of a crime or not. Except when upon conviction by final judgment the penalty imposable as provided by law is death. The right to security or the right to security of person finds a textual hook in Article III, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, and at the core of this guarantee is the immunity of ones person, including the extensions of his/her person-houses papers, and effects-against government intrusion. (Secretary of National Defense vs. Manalo, 568 SCRA 1) A closer look at the right to security of person would yield various permutations of the exercise of this right: First, the right to security of person is freedom from fear, Second, the right to security of person is a guarantee of bodily and psychological integrity and security, and, Third, the right to security of person is a guarantee of protection of ones rights by the government. (Secretary of National Defense vs. Manalo, 568 SCRA 1) With all these in view, there are persons who belongs to different class. Such classification varies depending on the surrounding circumstances availing each person. There are persons, detainees or convicts which suffers high risks with respect to security of their life and limb. With such reasonable classification, there must be a different way of dealing with their security when in custody of the law.

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An individual may reasonably not be mixed-up with detainees with the facilities of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology or the Philippine National Police considering that the probability of attempt in their life is too high to consider. It is not only from possible life threatening situation wherein a person may be considered for house arrest. There are also situations wherein possible rescue of a detention prisoner may be had by criminal elements of who interest on the well being of such prisoner. In order to avoid such a situation, house arrest of certain individuals may be justified in order to see to it that justice may effectively be served. It is worth to note that house arrest is not secured or implemented to favor certain individual but rather for facilitation of effective administration of justice.