Republic of the Philippines

COURT OF APPEALS
Manila

In the Matter of the Petition

for Habeas Corpus in favor of
GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ SP Case No. 202020

ISABEL ALLENDE MARQUEZ

Petitioner,
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PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS

Petitioner, by counsel, to this Honorable Court, respectfully states:

PREFATORY STATEMENT

The petitioner in this case represents her father, Gabriel Garcia Marquez who was
forcibly abducted and arbitrarily detained by the respondents.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez had been a physician since the 1980’s, seeking to cure the
diseases in rural poor communities before he was illegally arrested and abducted.
His unlawful arrest and enforced disappearance happened on the occasion of the
government initiative to launch an all out war against those critical of its policies,
which has resulted in unabated extrajudicial killings, abductions, political
persecution and violations of civil and political rights of the people.

Since his fundamental rights have been desecrated, he, represented by petitioner,
now seeks the protection and restoration of their rights through this petition.

THE PARTIES

1. Petitioner ISABEL ALLENDE MARQUEZ is a resident Filipina, of legal age, and she represents
herein her father, GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ, 48 years old. The petitioner may be served
with all notices, orders, resolutions and other legal processes of this Honorable Court through
the office address of the undersigned counsel.
2. The following respondents are being impleaded because of their participation, role and
position in the formulation and implementation of the government’s all‐out war policy against
suspected rebels and political activists resulting in various human rights violations, including
the forcible abduction, illegal arrest and detention of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ.

3. Respondent Gen. HERMOGENES ESPERON is the current Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP). He may be served with notices, decisions and other legal processes of
this Honorable Court at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

4. Respondent Gen. JESUS VERZOSA is of legal age and the incumbent Director General of the
Philippine National Police (PNP). He may be served with notices, decisions and other legal
processes of this Honorable Court at the PNP Headquarters at Camp Crame, Quezon City.

5. Respondent Lt. Gen. ALEXANDER YANO is the current Chief of the Philippine Army (PA). He
may be served with notices, decisions and other legal processes of this Honorable Court at Fort
Bonifacio, Taguig City.

6. The respondent Col. EDUARDO AÑO is of legal age and is the Head of the Philippine Army’s
Intelligence and Security Group (PA‐ISG). The processes of this Most Honorable Court may
reach the respondent in his office at the Philippine Army Headquarters at Fort Bonifacio,
Taguig City. His office is responsible for the government’s implementation of the all‐out war
policy against suspected rebels and political activists.
 STATEMENT OF FACTS ON THE ABDUCTION
OF GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

7. GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ studied from 1978‐1981 at the Ateneo De Manila University.
Inspired and encouraged by the Jesuit brothers to serve the poor and oppressed people in the
rural areas, GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ decided to work in the rural communities of the
Cordillera Region.

8. He continued to work in the rural communities until his forcible abduction and arbitrary
detention by the respondent military officers and police on April 1, 2009.

9. The following are the circumstances behind the abduction of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ and
his continued unlawful and arbitrary detention, as well as the efforts of his family and
concerned organizations to determine his whereabouts.

10. On 1 April 2009 in St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, at around 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.,
GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ was leaving the Medical Arts Building after he conducted a lecture.

11. Eight (8) men wearing black uniforms, who some witnesses claim were emblazoned “Police”
and “CIDG,” emerged from a black L‐300 van that was positioned at the vicinity of the clinic’s
entrance. The men then punched GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ and forcibly shoved him into the
waiting van.

12. The black van that had a special number “8”plate number quickly sped away in the direction
of EDSA. The uniformed men expertly carried out the abduction of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
in less than ten (10) minutes.

13. The captors of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ subjected him to seventy‐two (72) hours of physical
and psychological torture as he was in handcuffs, blindfolded, threatened with bodily harm to
himself and his daughter, linked to live electric wires, burnt with cigarettes, forced to confess
and identify her alleged subversive activities as well as subjected to extremely high volumes
of April Boy Regino, Salbakuta and Lito Camo jingles.
14. Petitioner ISABEL ALLENDE MARQUEZ learned of her father’s illegal abduction and the
governmental agency that held her captive while watching GMA7’s news update at around 8
p.m. of that day. Here, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, through respondent Gen.
Hermogenes Esperon, announced that the Intelligence and Security Group of the Philippine
Army (PA‐ISG) have captured GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ and that he was in a detention facility
in Fort Bonifacio.

15. The petitioner and members of the human rights organization Ateneo Human Rights Center
(AHRC) then went to Fort Bonifacio to ascertain the condition of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ.
Upon reaching this Army camp, they were directed to the office of Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano
who issued a certification that GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ was not within the confines of the
Army Headquarters at Fort Bonifacio. He encouraged the petitioner to return the next day.

16. When petitioner and the AHRC members arrived at around 11:00 a.m. on 3 April 2009 at Fort
Bonifacio, the Lt. Gen. Yano directed them to the Army Officers’ Clubhouse where ranking
officials of the police and military were to present GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ in a press
conference.

17. Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano and Gen. Jesus Verzosa said in the press conference that members of
the 16th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army lawfully arrested GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ in
St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, allegedly on the basis of a warrant of arrest for
Rebellion that different courts from the Cordillera Autonomous Region allegedly issued against
him.

18. Though Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano stated the docket numbers for the specific offense of
Rebellion during the 3 April 2009 press conference, there was no mention of the court that
issued the arrest warrants that validated GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ’s continued confinement.

19. Moreover, the warrant that the PNP‐CIDG released appears dubious and highly irregular. It was
purportedly issued by Judge Emilio Jacinto on 11 March 1999 in the case of rebellion entitled
People
v. Kurtis Vonnegut alias Vonvon, et al., docketed as Crim. Case No. 99‐0311 filed before the
Municipal Trial Court of Bangued, Abra. GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ’s name appears on the list
at number three (3), with bail recommended at Twenty Thousand Pesos (P 20,000.00).

20. The AHRC discovered that the case was passed around in different courts. However, upon
verification from the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court of Lacub, Abra,
the records of this Rebellion case against GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ are not in their custody
and could not be found.

21. GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ through counsel requested from the respondent PNP officers to
furnish copies of all the documents that would justify his arrest and continued detention.
Unfortunately, the respondents made no response to this request.

22. All of these events point to the obvious fact that GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ was abducted
without the benefit of a valid subsisting warrant and neither were his rights as a citizen
respected when
 State security forces took him into custody on 1 April 2009. It is likewise worthwhile to note
that policemen in plainclothes accosted the AHRC in the Bangued, Abra, who were trying to
confirm the existence of the criminal cases against GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ.

23. The foregoing circumstances serve to engender the well‐founded belief that the respondents
and their agents are responsible for the abduction of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ despite the
fact that he has not committed, was not then committing and was not attempting to commit
any offense that called for his arrest or deprivation of liberty in the absence of any formal
charge or valid judicial warrant.

24. At no point in time was GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ apprised of his rights incident to an arrest
as enumerated in the landmark case of Miranda v. Arizona, and embodied in the Bill of Rights
under the Philippine Constitution. The purported warrants themselves were never presented
to GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ at the time of the abduction.

25. As no court of law has validly issued a warrant for the arrest of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ, for
any crime whatsoever, his confinement under the circumstances recounted above is therefore
patently illegal.

26. The petitioner, with her family, AHRC, and counsel, have exhausted all efforts available at
law, and she has no plain, speedy and adequate remedy to protect the fundamental rights of
her father except through this application for the issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus to
require the respondents to bring and present GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ before this Honorable
Court.

27. Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano announced during the press conference that they would transfer his
custody over to any of the courts in Cordillera Region that allegedly issued the warrants of
arrest. Considering that the warrant presented to the petitioner are all invalid, dubious and
non‐existent, the declaration of GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ’s transfer to Cordillera will put her
life in mortal danger since, in the unequivocal pronouncement of Mr. Philip Alston, the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, the AFP has the reputation of dealing
severely with perceived rebels.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petitioner respectfully prays that this Honorable
Court issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus directing the respondents, or whoever acts in their place or
stead, to appear before this Honorable Court and to produce GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ in good
health, and to explain forthwith why the respondents should not set GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ at
liberty without delay.

Other forms of relief just and equitable under the premises are likewise

prayed for. Makati City, April 9, 2009.

 ATENEO HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER
Counsel for the petitioner
1/F Ateneo Professional Schools Bldg., 20 Rockwell Drive,
Rockwell Center, Makati City 1210
Telefax No. 1234567; Email: email@email.com

By:

CAROL BELLO
IBP No. 733286; 1‐07‐08;
Marikina PTR No. 0986236; 1‐04‐
08; Makati
Roll No. 13366
MCLE Compliance No. 123454

LOVELY‐ANN CARLOS‐IMBONG
IBP No. 733285; 1‐07‐08; Makati
PTR No. 0986237; 1‐04‐08;
Makati
Roll No. 39818
MCLE Compliance No. 123473

Copy furnished:

Gen. HERMOGENES ESPERON

CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE AFP
Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City

Gen. JESUS VERZOSA, JR.

DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE PNP
PNP Headquarters,
Camp Crame, Quezon City

Lt. Gen. ALEXANDER YANO

CHIEF OF THE PHILIPPINE ARMY
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

Col. EDUARDO AÑO

HEAD PA‐INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY GROUP
Army Headquarters
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
 EXPLANATION OF SERVICE BY REGISTERED MAIL

Pursuant to Section 11, Rule 13 of the 1997 Rules of Court, copies of this Petition were
served upon the other parties by registered mail because of distance and unavailability of
messengerial services to effect personal service.

CAROL BELLO

(Verification with Certification of Non‐Forum Shopping)