LETTER OF INSTRUCTION NO. 772, November 27, 1978

[ LETTER OF INSTRUCTION NO. 772, November 27, 1978 ]

SUBJECT: Investigation, Filing of Criminal Cases and Issuance of Arrest, Search and Seizure Order

TO: The Ministry of National Defense The Ministry of Justice And All Others Concerned

In line with the announced policy towards normalization, henceforth:

All criminal cases to be filed by the Judge Advocate General or by any personnel of the Ministry of National Defense and/or the military establishment shall be referred in the first instance to the Civil Courts and no longer to the Military Commission.

No arrest, search and seizure order (ASSO) shall be issued under the emergency powers without prior clearance of the President/Prime Minister.

All investigations shall be conducted in strict observance of constitutional processes, recognizing the rights of the accused, respondents and witnesses. These investigations shall be done quietly, without fanfare and undue publicity.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines