Supreme Court limits PHDOs to six-year penalty crimes and foreign respondents

As it lifted the Precautionary Hold Departure Order (PHDO) issued against an individual, the Supreme Court (SC) stressed that PHDOs may only be issued for crimes with a minimum penalty of at least six years and one day of imprisonment, or when the respondent is a foreigner, regardless of the penalty.

In a 27-page decision, the SC Third Division ruled that a PHDO cannot be maintained when the crime under investigation does not meet the requirements.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a petitioner who was facing two counts of violation of the Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 before a trial court while the estafa complaint against her was dismissed.

The regional trial court granted the issuance of a PHDO against her and later denied her motion for reconsideration. It said that the dismissal of the estafa charge against her was appealed.

In its ruling, the SC stressed that the only charges the petitioner was facing were two counts of BP 22 violation, which is punishable by imprisonment of 30 days to one year.

It said that the pending appeal regarding the estafa charge did not justify continuing to restrict the petitioner’s right to travel.

The SC also clarified that PHDOs are intended to apply while the preliminary investigation is still pending. It said that once the case is in court, the rules governing regular hold departure orders apply.

“Upon the filing of the two Informations against [the petitioner] before the MeTC, the PHDO should not have been issued by the RTC as there was no probable cause that would require the restriction of her right to travel abroad,” it said.

The decision, penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, was promulgated in January and made public in August. –NB, GMA News