BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

THE Supreme Court yesterday approved the draft rules governing the implementation of the writ of habeas data, mechanism which it said would uphold the "public’s right to truth."

Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the magistrates are still in the process of fine-tuning some minor provisions in the Rules before it takes effect on February 2.

The writ of habeas data was conceptualized following the promulgation of another mechanism, the writ of amparo, in a bid to address increasing incidents of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

The writ of habeas data is defined as a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party.

A petition for habeas data may be filed with the regional trial court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan or the SC when the action concerns public data files of the government offices.

Under the writ of habeas data, a petitioner may ask for the updating, rectification, suppression or destruction of the database or information or files to strengthen petitioner’s right to privacy.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno earlier said the writ "will expose all the falsehoods, all the fabrications that public authorities and private persons usually put up to evade responsibility in cases of extra-legal killings and involuntary disappearances."

Through a petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas data, a person asks the court to allow him to find out what information is held about his person.

The proposal to make use of the writ of habeas data followed the high court’s promulgation of the rule on the writ of amparo, which aims to support the writ of habeas corpus.

Using the writ of amparo, relatives of those believed to have been abducted and illegally detained could ask the court to allow them to inspect the places where their relatives are reported to have been taken and detained.

Relatives of the disappeared could also ask the court to extend its protection to them and order persons believed to be involved in the abduction to even help trace the disappeared.

Puno said that the writ of habeas data, like the writ of amparo, will never violate any substantial right already existing or granted in statute books.

For instance, journalists will not be compelled to reveal their sources through the issuance of the writ of habeas data, as this right is protected by law, he said.

The amparo took effect last October 25.

Since its implementation, more than 10 petitions have already been filed before the SC, the most recent of which was that of a news team of ABS-CBN network led by broadcaster/reporter Ces Oreña-Drilon.

The writ of amparo empowers the courts to issue reliefs that may be granted through judicial orders of protection, production, inspection to safeguard one’s life and liberty.