Sanchez, Giana Mae G.

1-P
B/GEN. JOSE COMENDADOR v. GEN. RENATO S. DE VILLA
G.R. No. 93177; August 2, 1991

Facts:
The petitioners are officers of the Armed forces of the Philippines facing
prosecution for their alleged participation in the failed coup d’ etat that took place
on December 1 to 9, 1989. Petitioners claim that there was no pre-trial
investigation of the charges as mandated by Article of War 71. Ltc Jacinto Ligot
applied for bail on June 5, 1990, but the application was denied by GCM No.14.
Decision was rendered reiterating the release for provisional liberty of petitioners
with the court stating that there is a mistake in the presumption of respondents
that bail does not apply among military men facing court martial proceeding.
Respondents now appeal before the higher court.
Issue:
Whether GCM No. 14 has a legal ground denying the petitioners their right
of peremptory challenge?
Ruling:
It is a basic canon of statutory construction that when the reason of the law
ceases, the law itself ceases. Cessante ratione legis, cessat ipsa lex. This principle
is also expressed in the maxim ratio legis est anima: the reason of law is its soul.
Applying these rules, the Court hold that the withdrawal of the right to peremptory
challenge in L P.D. No. 39 became ineffective when the apparatus of martial law
was dismantled with the issuance of Proclamation No. 2045. As a result, the old
rule embodied in Article 18 of Com. Act No. 408 was automatically revived and
now again allows the right to peremptory challenge.