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[ G.R. No. 140991. January 31, 2000]

JAGTAR SINGH vs. CA, et al.

FIRST DIVISION

Gentlemen:

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated JAN 31 2000.

G.R. No. 140991 (Jagtar Singh vs. Court of Appeals [CA], and Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration.)

Petitioner is an Indian national who was arrested in Gen. Santos City for allegedly harboring another Indian national who has not duly entered the country under the immigration laws. He was detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. A deportation order was issued against him by respondent Commissioner. Thereafter, petitioner was able to secure a writ of habeas corpus from the trial court which ordered the Bureau of Immigration to discharge him from custody. Since he was still detained pending respondent Commissioner's appeal to the CA, petitioner filed before the CA an "urgent motion for temporary release of the petitioner upon a bond fixed" by the court. The CA denied the motion. Hence, this petition.

The petition bears no merit. In deportation proceedings, bail is not a matter of right but is discretionary on the part of the Commissioner of Immigration and Deportation as provided in Section 37(e) of the Immigration Act No. 1940 (Harvey v. Defensor-Santiago, 162 SCRA 840 [1988]). The right of aliens facing deportation to provisional liberty is not guaranteed by the Constitution (Tiu Chun Hai v. Deportation Board, 104 Phil. 949) because such proceedings are not criminal in nature (Ong Heng Sang v. Commissioner of Immigration, 4 SCRA 422 [1962]). It is an act of State done by or under the authority of the sovereign power (In re McCulloch Dick , 38 Phil. 41) which constitutes a police measure (Forbes v. Chuoco Tiaco, 16 Phil 534) designed to exclude undesirable aliens for self-preservation or public interest (Lao Tan Bun v. Fabre, 81 Phil. 682).

Citing the old Section 20, Rule 41, which is no longer found in the 1997 Rules of Court, petitioner claims that the case is not a deportation proceeding but a habeas corpus petition. Suffice it to say that there is already a deportation order against petitioner. Besides, the habeas corpus case is still pending appeal with the CA.

ACCORDINGLY, the petition is DENIED.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) VIRGINIA ANCHETA-SORIANO

Clerk of Court

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