BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

A BUSINESS executive and a peasant group leader have been granted by the Supreme Court the first ever writs of habeas data.

Guillermo Luz, a member of the Makati Business Club and executive vice president of the Ayala Foundation Inc., and Anakpawis party list group member Francis Saez, separately filed for the issuance of the writ of habeas data and amparo against AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and PNP chief Avelino Razon for allegedly placing them under military and police surveillance.

The Court granted Luz and Saez both the writs of habeas data and amparo in separate two-page resolutions dated March 11.

The Court also directed the respondents to make verified returns of the writs before the Court of Appeals within five working days from notice.

The CA was ordered to separately hear each petition on March 18, and raffle the cases among its justices.

The writ officially took effect on February 2. Rules governing its implementation were approved by the tribunal last January 22.

The writ of habeas data was conceptualized following the promulgation of another legal mechanism, the writ of amparo, in a bid to address the "chilling" rise in the incidents of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances.

Under the Rule, 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.

Luz, in a petition dated March 3, asked the SC to compel Esperon and other respondent military agents to appear before the Court to confirm or deny whether the military has been conducting surveillance operations on him for his suspected involvement in a plot to oust President Arroyo during the standoff at Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City last November.

Luz also asked the SC to compel respondents to submit and disclose to him any photograph, report, or information gathered in the course of their "case buildup" against him.

He said he was prompted to file the suit because of the respondents' lack of response to his public denials and his unanswered letter of inquiry, which he said had been received by Esperon.

Such dismissal by the respondents "constitute an unwarranted disturbance of (his) peace of mind and an unjustified incursion on his right to security and privacy."

Saez, in his March 5 petition, impleaded as respondent President Arroyo with Esperon and Razon for including his name in the "list of persons who are considered as targets for neutralization by the AFP."

He sought a temporary protection order from the court as he said he feared he would be killed or abducted should his name remain in the "order of battle."

He also asked that the respondents produce documents pertaining to his inclusion in the "order of battle," and the destruction of these documents.

He said the AFP intimidated him into signing the documents which stated he is a rebel returnee and that he has agreed to become a military intelligence asset.