Name: Palacio, Jessa T.

Subject: Constitutional Law I

Section: JD – 1B
Schedule: Wednesday and Friday (6:00 PM – 9:00PM)

DOCTRINE:

Habeas Corpus

OLAGUER,,vs. MILITARY COMMISSION NO. 34

G.R. No. L-54558
May 22, 1987

FACTS:

In 1979, Olaguer and some others were detained by military personnel and they were placed in
Camp Bagong Diwa. Olaguer and his group are all civilians. They were charged with (1)
unlawful possession of explosives and incendiary devices; (2) conspiracy to assassinate President
and Mrs. Marcos; (3) conspiracy to assassinate cabinet members Juan Ponce Enrile, Francisco
Tatad and Vicente Paterno; (4) conspiracy to assassinate Messrs. Arturo Tangco, Jose Roño and
Onofre Corpus; (5) arson of nine buildings; (6) attempted murder of Messrs. Leonardo Perez,
Teodoro Valencia and Generals Romeo Espino and Fabian Ver; and (7) conspiracy and proposal
to commit rebellion, and inciting to rebellion. On August 19, 1980, the petitioners went to the SC
and filed the instant Petition for prohibition and habeas corpus.

ISSUE/S:

Whether or not the petition for habeas corpus be granted.

RULING:

The petition for habeas corpus has become moot and academic because by the time the case
reached the SC Olaguer and his companions were already released from military confinement.
When the release of the persons in whose behalf the application for a writ of habeas corpus was
filed is affected, the Petition for the issuance of the writ becomes moot and academic. Inasmuch
as the herein petitioners have been released from their confinement in military detention centers,
the instant Petitions for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus should be dismissed for having
become moot and academic. But the military court created to try the case of Olaguer (and the
decision it rendered) still continues to subsist.