Publishing Law Instruction No. 7 of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation

February 23, 1988 REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 13-88 SUBJECT : Publishing Law Instruction No. 7 of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation TO : All Internal Revenue Officers and Others Concerned For the information and guidance of all concerned, there is published hereunder the full text of Law Instruction No. 7 of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation. LAW INSTRUCTION NO. 7 "HOLD DEPARTURE GUIDELINES "The Constitution provides in Article III, Bill of Rights: "Sec. 6. The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law. cd "Further, the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, Rule 114, provides: "Sec. 15. . . . An accused released on bail may be re-arrested without the necessity of a warrant if he attempts to depart from the Philippines without prior permission of the court where the case is pending. "Under these provisions, we hereby set the following guidelines, effective today: "1. In case of doubt, the presumption shall be resolved in favor of the constitutional right to travel. "2. As a general rule, we shall issue Hold Departure (HD) order, only when the applicant files authenticated copies i.e., stamped, signed and sealed of: "a. Information in criminal case filed in court; "b. Order of the judge holding departure. "3. If a government agency requests for HD order; "a. It shall name the specific law (e.g., B.P. No. 10, Section 11) which authorizes the agency to make the request. But it shall be based only on any of the three grounds: national security, public safety, or public health; "b. The letter request shall be filed by a government official, at the level of a bureau director or higher. "4. Copies of the HD order shall be distributed not only to the proper government agencies, but also to the subject of the order, so that he may, if he desires, file a motion for reconsideration with CID. "5. Names already in the HD list, when they do not fall under the guidelines, shall be stricken off. "6. Notify not only CID divisions concerned, but also: Department of Foreign Affairs; PCGG; BIR; NBI; Supreme Court; Office of Court Administrator; and the Technical Assistant for Media Affairs. "28 January 1988. (Sgd.) Miriam Defensor Santiago Commissioner" The aforequoted issuance effectively bars the Bureau of Internal Revenue from applying for a Hold Departure Order because there is no specific law authorizing our agency to make such a request. Moreover, violations of the penal provisions of the Tax Code such tax evasion, nonpayment of tax, etc., do not reasonably fall within the purview of the three (3) excepted grounds, i.e., national security, public safety or public health. Since the only instance where the departure of erring or delinquent taxpayers can be held is when the corresponding criminal information has already been filed and the court issues a hold order, it is hereby directed that where chances of collection by civil action or summary remedy is futile or where flight for abroad is probable or where the taxpayer performs such acts which will impede or obstruct collection of the tax, such tax cases shall be referred to the Legal Office or Legal Branch, as the case may be, for the expeditious institution of criminal action. All concerned are enjoined to give this Circular as wide a publicity as possible. (SGD.) BIENVENIDO A. TAN, JR. Commissioner