LOZADA v. ARROYO G.R. NO. 184379-80 April 24, 2012
Facts
The instant petition stems from the alleged corruption scandal precipitated by a transa transacti ction on betwe between en the Philip Philippin pine e Govern Governmen ment, t, repres represent ented ed by the Nation National al Broadband Network (NBN), and T! "orporation (T!), a "hinese manufacturer of telecommunications e#uipment$ %ec$ &omulo Neri sought the services of 'oada as an unofficial consultant in T!NBN deal$ 'atter avers that during the course of his engagement, several anomalies in the transaction involving certain public officials were discovered$ *hen 'oada was issued a subpoena directing him to appear and testify testify,, he left left the country country for a purpor purported ted official official trip trip to 'ondo 'ondon$ n$ 'oad 'oada, a, upon upon disembarking the aircraft in +anila, several men held his arms and took his bag$ %ec$ %ec$ tien tiena a phon phoned ed 'oa 'oada da,, assu assurin ring g him him that that he was was with with peop people le from from the the government and that the former was going to confer with -!% and +aam$. 'oada surmis surmised ed that that these these indivi individua duals ls referr referred ed to !% !rmita !rmita and former former Pres$ Pres$ rroyo, rroyo, respectively$ respectively$ %ec$ tiena also instructed 'oada to pacify his wife$ /ioleta$ *ho was making public statements asking for her husband0s return$ long the way, he was asked to draft an antedated letter re#uesting police protection$ 1e re#uested to be brought home to Pasig, but the men compelled to deny his re#uest on account of unidentified risks$ They stopped 2utback restaurant in 'ibis, 3" where he was made to fill in the blanks of a prepared affidavit$ /ioleta filed a Petition for 1abeas "orpus, rturo likewise filed a Petition for *rit of mparo$ 'oada clainmed that after his press conference and testimony in the %enate, he and his family were since then harassed, stalked and threatened$ &espondents filed before the " a +anifestation and +otion for the dismissal of the 1abeas "orpus case as they asserted that 'oada was never illegally deprived of his libert and was, at that time, no longer in their custody$ 1abeas "orpus case was dismissed for being moot and academic$ "a dropped Pres$ rroyo as a respondent on the ground that at the time of the Petition in the mparo case was filed, she was the incumbent Pres$ !n4oying immunity from suit$ " denied the privilege of the *rit of mparo as the " found that petitioners were unable to prove through substantial evidence that respondents violated, or threatened with violation, the right to life, libert and security of 'oada$ !ss"#s 5) *het *hethe herr the the " comm committ itted ed an erro errorr in droppi dropping ng former former Pres Pres$$ rroy rroyo as a respondent in the mparo case$ 6) *hether *hether petitioner petitioners s should should be granted granted the privilege privilege of the the writ of amparo$ amparo$ $#l%
No," did not commit an error in dropping former Pres$ rroyo as a respondent in the mparo case as the events that gave rise to the present action, as well as the
filing of the original petition and the issuance of the " decision, occurred during the incumbency of former Pres$ rroyo$ 7n that respect$ 7t was proper to drop her as a respondent on account of her presidential immunity from suit$ No, petitioners should not be granted the privilege of the writ of mparo$ The totality of evidence adduced by petitioners failed to meet the threshold of substantial evidence$ %" is in agreement with te factual findings of the " to the e8tent that 'oada was not illegally deprived of his liberty from the point when he disembarked from the aircraft up to the time he was led to the departure area of the airport, as he voluntarily submitted himself to the custody of respondents$ That he was not prevented from making a call to his brother rturo$ %" does not find any evidence on record that 'oada struggled or made an outcry for help when he was allegedly -grabbed. or -abducted. at the airport$ 1e even testified that nobody held him, and they were not hostile to him nor shouted at him$ 9oregoing statement show that 'oada personally sought the help of %ec$ tiena to avoid the %enate personnel, and thus knew that the men who met him at the airport were there to aid him in such ob4ective$ The actions of 'oada evinced knowledge and voluntariness, uncharacteristic of someone who claims to have been forcibly abducted$
