Brace yourselves, companeros y companeras, starting tomorrow, courts of justice will add a new rule to the Revised Rules of Court.

The High Tribunal has promulgated the so-called Rule on the Writ of Habeas Data, both as an independent remedy to enforce the right to informational privacy and the complementary "right to truth" as well as an additional remedy to protect the right to life, liberty, or security of a person. Actually, it took effect last Saturday being the Constitution Day, following its publication in three newspapers of general circulation.

Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno had previously expressed his fervent hope "that with the help of the writ of habeas corpus, the writ of amparo, and the writ of habeas data, we can finally bring to a close the problem of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances in our country, spectral remains of the Martial Law regime."

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There are now three writs under the Revised Rules of Court aside from the writ of execution. But the writ of habeas data has the youngest pedigree, having its antecedents in the Council of Europe's 108th Convention on Data Protection of 1981, according to the Supreme Court website.

In Latin America, the writ has also become a fundamental instrument for investigation into human rights violations by military dictatorships. It has been used to obtain information concerning government conduct, to learn the fate of disappeared persons, and to exact accountability.

In our jurisdiction, the writ of habeas data writ makes it 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." Reliefs include the "deletion, destruction, or rectification of the erroneous data or information."

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Under this newest rule, it is the aggrieved person who may file the petition for the writ. In cases involving extralegal killings and disappearances, similar to the writ of amparo, the petition may be filed by members of the family of the aggrieved party following an order of priority.

Because this new writ involves the determination of facts, the petition would be filed with the Regional Trial Courts where the petitioner or respondent resides, or which has jurisdiction over the place where the data or information is gathered, collected or stored, at the option of petitioner.

The petition may also be filed with the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or the Sandiganbayan when the action concerns public data files of government offices. When issued, the writ of habeas data shall be enforceable anywhere in the Philippines.

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It is important to stress here that like the writ of amparo, the writ of habeas data is a prerogative writ and does not prohibit the filing of separate criminal, civil, or administrative actions.

When a criminal action is filed subsequent to the petition for the writ, the latter shall be consolidated with the criminal action. When both a criminal action and a separate civil action are filed subsequent to the petition, the petition shall be consolidated with the criminal action.

But when a criminal case has been instituted or commenced, no separate petition for the writ shall be filed. The reliefs sought under the writ shall be available to the aggrieved party by motion in the criminal case.

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