In place of the immigration lookout order issued by the Department of Justice (DoJ) against suspected criminals, the Supreme Court (SC) has approved the precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) voting 11-1.

SC spokesman Theodore Te said the PHDO is an order in writing issued by a court directing the Bureau of Immigration to prevent any attempt by a person suspected of a crime to depart from the Philippines, which shall be issued ex parte in cases involving crimes where the minimum of the penalty prescribed by law is at least six years and one day.

The newly approved PHDO will take effect within 15 days of publication in two newspapers of general publication.

The issuance of PHDO came after the high bench affirmed last 17 July its decision to declare as unconstitutional DoJ Circular 41, which allows the DoJ to issue hold departure orders, watch list orders and allow departure orders to suspected criminals.

In its 17 July ruling, the SC affirmed its April decision granting the petitions of former President and current House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) chairman Ephraim Genuino and his two children to declare as unconstitutional DoJ Circular 41.

The SC declared the “DOJ Department Circular 41 unconstitutional for being violative of the right to travel under Article III, Section 6 of the 1987 Constitution.”

Under the PHDO Rules, a prosecutor can file a PHDO application with “any regional trial court within whose territorial jurisdiction the alleged crime was committed.”

“For compelling reasons, it may be filed with any regional trial court within the region where the crime was committed if the place of the commission of the crime is known. The regional trial courts in the City of Manila, Quezon City, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Davao City and Cagayan de Oro City shall also have authority to act on applications filed by the prosecutor based on complaints instituted by the National Bureau of Investigation, regardless of where the alleged crime was committed,” the SC added.

An assurance was made by the high court that the issuance of PHDO will not affect any findings of probable cause in the preliminary investigations of criminal complaints before the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service and its regional and city offices.

“The preliminary finding of probable cause is solely based on the complaint and is for the sole purpose of issuing PHDO and shall be without the prejudice to the resolution by the prosecutor of any criminal complaint during the preliminary investigation,” it said.