Habeas corpus is the power of a court to require the state to produce a person in custody.

Article VII, Section 18 of the Constitution allows the President to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus for not more than 60 days, “in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it.”

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On Oct. 22, 1950, then President Elpidio Quirino suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus through Proclamation No. 210 due to impending communist threat from Hukbong Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon (Hukbalahap).

Two decades later, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos suspended the privilege through Proclamation No. 889 on Aug. 21, 1971, after the bomb attack during the rally of Liberal Party at Plaza Miranda in Manila.

The privilege of the writ was last suspended by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Dec. 4, 2009, through Proclamation No. 1959 which ordered a state of martial law in some areas of Maguindanao province following the bloodiest election-related massacre of 58 people. —INQUIRER RESEARCH

Source: 1987 Constitution, Official Gazette and Inquirer Archives

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