REMEDIAL LAW | Sombong vs CA GR 11876, 31 January 1996
Sombong vs CA
GR 11876, 31 January 1996
FACTS Every so often two women claim to be the legitimate parent of the same child. One or the other, whether for financial gain or for sheer cupidity, should be an impostor. The court is consequently called upon to decide as to which of them should have the child's lawful custody. This is the very nature of this case. The child herein had considerably grown through the years that this controversy had unbearably lagged. Petitioner does not have the right of custody over the minor Cristina because, by the evidence disclosed before the court a quo, Cristina has not been shown to be petitioner's daughter, Arabella. The evidence adduced before the trial court does not warrant the conclusion that Arabella is the same person as Cristina. It will be remembered that, in habeas corpus proceedings, the question of identity is relevant and material, subject to the usual presumptions including those as to identity of person. Whether or not Habeas Corpus should be granted.
RULING No. In general, the purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to determine whether or not a particular person is legally held. A prime specification of an application for a writ of habeas corpus, in fact, is an actual and effective, and not merely nominal or moral, illegal restraint of liberty. Fundamentally, in order to justify the grant of the writ of habeas corpus, the restraint of liberty must be in the nature of an illegal and involuntary deprivation of freedom of action. This is the basic requisite under the first part of Section 1, Rule 102, of the Revised Rules of Court, which provides that "except as otherwise expressly provided by law, the writ of habeas corpus shall extend to all cases of illegal confinement or detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty.” In the second part of the same provision, however, Habeas Corpus may be resorted to in cases where "the rightful custody of any person is withheld from the person entitled thereto." Thus, although the writ of Habeas Corpus ought not to be issued if the restraint is voluntary, we have held time and again that the said writ is the proper legal remedy to enable parents to regain the custody of a minor child even if the latter be in the custody of a third person of her own free will. The foregoing principles considered, the grant of the writ in the instant case will all depend on the concurrence of the following requisites: (1) that the petitioner has the right of custody over the minor; (2) that the rightful custody of the minor is being withheld from the petitioner by the respondent; and (3) that it is to the best interest of the minor concerned to be in the custody of petitioner and not that of the respondent. Not all of these requisites exist in this case. The dismissal of this petition is thus warranted.
