
07/07/2025
NATIONAL NEWS | OSG appeals CA’s release order of 81‑year‑old in mistaken identity case
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), under the Marcos administration has filed an appeal challenging the Court of Appeals' (CA) decision to release 81-year-old Prudencio Calubid Jr., who was granted a writ of habeas corpus in what the court deemed a case of mistaken identity.
In its motion, the OSG argued: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus should not be granted because Prudencio Calubid, Jr. was detained pursuant to a valid court order.”
Headed by Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe, the OSG asserted that the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) had conducted a thorough investigation to confirm the identity and whereabouts of Prudencio Calubid.
However, in its ruling, the CA criticized the investigation, stating that “the investigation carried out by the police officers, which primarily involved browsing internet sources and social media, was publicly presented as though a comprehensive and meticulous intelligence operation was conducted, which apparently was not.”
The OSG further claimed that the profile photo from Calubid Jr.’s Facebook account bore a “striking resemblance” to that of Prudencio Calubid, the intended subject of the warrant included on the police's most wanted list with a ₱7.8-million bounty.
Still, the appellate court ruled that authorities should have used official records in their investigation and found that law enforcement failed to exercise due diligence in verifying whether Calubid Jr. was indeed the person named in the warrant.
Calubid Jr., a retired technician from Olongapo City, has spent nearly his entire life there, aside from a short period working overseas in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the person actually targeted by the warrant is a National Democratic Front consultant who has been missing since his abduction in 2006.
Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the right to liberty is protected through the writ of habeas corpus. Rule of Court 102, Section 1 of Habeas Corpus states that "the writ of habeas corpus shall extend to all cases of illegal confinement and detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty.”
| via John Arjay Divino and Charito Radan III, The Technopacer-Talisay