D E C I S
I O N
(En Banc)
OZAETA, J.:
I.
THE FACTS
The Senate investigated the purchase
by the government of two parcels of land, known as Buenavista and Tambobong
estates. An intriguing question that the Senate sought to resolve was the
apparent irregularity of the government’s payment to one Ernest Burt, a
non-resident American citizen, of the total sum of Php1.5 million for his
alleged interest in the two estates that only amounted to Php20,000.00, which
he seemed to have forfeited anyway long before. The Senate sought to determine
who were responsible for and who benefited from the transaction at the expense
of the government.
Petitioner
Jean Arnault, who acted as agent of Ernest Burt in the subject transactions,
was one of the witnesses summoned by the Senate to its hearings. In the course
of the investigation, the petitioner repeatedly refused to divulge the name of the person to whom he
gave the amount of Php440,000.00, which he withdrew from the Php1.5 million
proceeds pertaining to Ernest Burt.
Arnault was therefore
cited in contempt by the Senate and was committed to the custody of the Senate
Sergeant-at-Arms for imprisonment until he answers the questions. He thereafter
filed a petition for habeas corpus
directly with the Supreme Court questioning the validity of his detention.
