DENSING, Angelica Czarina M.

I - Arellano September 14, 2022

LAW102 - Constitutional Law I Atty. Coray Sangbaan Curo

AQUINO, JR. vs. ENRILE

59 SCRA 183, September 17, 1974
Makalintal, C.J.

FACTS
On August 11, 1973, six criminal charges, for illegal possession of firearms, etc., murder
and violation of RA 1700 or the Anti-Subversion Act, were filed against petitioner Benigno S.
Aquino, Jr. with Military Commission No. 2, created under General Orders Nos. 8, 12 and 39,
(2) that on August 28, 1973, President Marcos created, thru Administrative Order No. 355, a
special committee to undertake the preliminary investigation or reinvestigation of said charges,
and (3) that he questions the legality of his prosecution in a military commission instead of in a
regular civilian court as well as the creation of the special committee, not only because of alleged
invalidity of Proclamation 1081 and General Order No. 2 and the orders authorizing the creation
of military commissions but also because Administrative Order No. 355 constitutes allegedly a
denial of the equal protection of the laws to him and to the others affected thereby. It was issued
by the President in the exercise of the power he assumed by virtue of Proclamation 1081 placing
the entire country under Martial Law.

ISSUE
Whether or not the detention of the petitioners by virtue of Proclamation 1081 and
General Order No. 2 is legal.

RULING
YES. Five (5) Justices held that the issue is a political question, not subject to judicial
inquiry. While the other four (4) Justices held that the issue was a justiciable one. Yet, any
inquiry by the Supreme Court in the present cases into the constitutional sufficiency of the
factual bases for the proclamation of martial law has become moot and academic.
Implicit in the state of martial law is the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus with respect to persons arrested or detained for acts related to the basic objective of the
proclamation, which is to suppress, invasion, insurrection or rebellion, or to safeguard public
safety against imminent danger thereof. The court held that the issue is a justiciable one.