Republic of the Philippines

Province of Capiz
REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
Branch___
City of Roxas

IN RE: IN THE MATTER OF

THE ISSUANCE OF A WRIT
OF HABEAS CORPUS OF
MAELYN ARROJADO

MAELYN ARROJADO, S.P. No.:

Petitioner, FOR: ISSUANCE OF A
WRIT OF HABEAS
CORPUS
-versus-

ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE

OF ROXAS CITY, INC.,
Respondent.
x------------------------------------------------------------------------x

PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF

A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
PETITIONER, by and through the undersigned
counsel, unto this Honorable Court most respectfully
avers that:

PARTIES

1. Petitioner is a Filipino citizen, of legal age, single

and a resident of Cherry Hills, Subdvision, Milibili,
Roxas City. The Petitioner is currently being confined
at Room 221 of the St. Anthony College of Roxas
City, Inc. located at San Roque Ext. St., Roxas City,
Capiz. The Petitioner may be served with notice
and/or processes from this Honorable Court through
the undersigned counsel at Dela Pieza-Layo and
Tidong Law Offi ce, Inzo Arnaldo St., Roxas City,
Capiz;

2. The Respondent ST. ANTHONY COLLEGE OF ROXAS

CITY, INC., (HOSPITAL) is a Philippine corporation
duly incorporated under Philippine Laws.
Respondent Hospital may be served with notice
 2

and/or processes at San Roque Ext. St., Roxas City,

Capiz;

FACTS

3. On 13 April 2019, Petitioner Maelyn Arrojado was

admitted to the respondent Hospital for the delivery
of her child as she was suffering from contraction.
Petitioner was then admitted to one of the private
rooms of the hospital. On the following day,
Petitioner was in labor and needed to undergo an
emergency c-section operation in order to deliver
the child. However, due to an infection and
dehydration, Petitioner’s daughter was admitted to
the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) upon birth;

4. As she was expecting a normal delivery, Petitioner

only prepared around fifty-thousand pesos
(P50,000.00) to sixty-thousand pesos (P60,000.00)
for the whole duration of her delivery. But in view of
the need to undergo a c-section operation and the
complications that affl icted her newborn child,
Petitioner’s hospital bill ballooned to One Hundred
Nine-Thousand One Hundred Sixty-Six Pesos and
Fifty-Two Centavos (P109,166.52) exclusive of
supply room, pharmacy, emergency, laboratory, and
NICU charges.

A copy of the said Hospital Bill is hereby attached as

Annex “A” and “A-1”, while a copy of the
Summary of Charges not included in the
computation of the Hospital Bill is hereby attached
as Annex “B”, “B-1”, and “B-2”, now forming an
integral part of this petition;

5. Thereafter, on 16 April 2019, Petitioner’s attending

physician Dr. Delfin told the former that she could
go home whenever she wanted. She stayed in the
hospital for one more night considering that her
daughter was still recovering from infection and
dehydration in the NICU. It was on 17 April 2019
that her daughter recovered;

6. Considering that Petitioner and her newborn

daughter are now allowed to be discharged, the
former paid forty-one thousand pesos (P41,000) of
their total bill. But, the respondent hospital refused
 3

petitioner from leaving the premises since she was

told to fully pay the hospital bill. A copy of the
Offi cial Receipts are hereby inclusively attached as
Annex “C”;

7. Petitioner comes from a very poor family. She and

her family were not highly-educated thus, Petitioner
does not have the capacity to fully pay the
remaining amount of her hospital bill. Petitioner and
her family begged respondent Hospital by proposing
a payment plan such as offering her mother’s house
as collateral and/or executing a promissory note but
Respondent hospital refused the same;

8. Currently, Petitioner is not allowed to leave the

hospital, worst she is not allowed to leave her room.
She cannot freely walk the corridor without the
hospital personnel asking her where she is going.
Likewise, she cannot walk the other parts of the
hospital without the hospital personnel
accompanying her. In short, Petitioner’s freedom of
movement is being curtailed by the respondent
hospital and, ultimately, her liberty is continuously
being deprived by the latter because of an unpaid
hospital bill. Stated differently, she is being
constructively detained by the respondent Hospital
against her will;

9. On 24 April 2019, the undersigned sent a demand

letter to the Respondent Hospital for the immediate
release of the Petitioner. However, the said letter
went unheeded and Petitioner is still confined in the
hospital against her will;

A copy of the Demand Letter is hereby attached as

Annex “D” now forming an integral part of this
Petition.

10. That the respondent Hospital has without any

legal authority to confine the Petitioner against her
will on the pretext that she has the obligation to pay
the full amount of her total hospital bill;

11. Perhaps, Respondent may argue that they are

not in any way detaining Petitioner. However, let it
be noted that Petitioner is not allowed to leave the
Hospital as previously stated. In the case of In Re:
 4

The Writ of Habeas Corpus for Reynaldo De

Villa, G.R. No. 158802, 17 November 2004, the
Supreme Court explained what kind of confinement
is covered by the writ of habeas corpus, viz:

“The extraordinary writ of habeas

corpus has long been a haven of relief
for those seeking liberty from any
unwarranted denial of freedom of
movement. Very broadly, the writ
applies "to all cases of illegal
confinement or detention by which a
person has been deprived of his liberty,
or by which the rightful custody of any
person has been withheld from the
person entitled thereto". Issuance of the
writ necessitates that a person be
illegally deprived of his liberty. In the
celebrated case of Villavicencio v.
Lukban, we stated that "[a]ny
restraint which will preclude
freedom of action is sufficient."
(Emphasis supplied) (Citations omitted)

12. Furthermore, Respondent Hospital cannot seek

asylum under the provisions of R.A. 9346 or
otherwise known as An Act of Prohibiting the
Detention of Patients in Hospitals and Medical
Clinics on Grounds of Nonpayment of Hospital Bills
or Medical Expenses; that while it is true that
patients who have been admitted in a Private Room
is not covered by the provisions thereof
nevertheless, that nowhere in the said law explicitly
confers a right to the a private Hospital to detain a
patient due to an unpaid bills. The said law merely
enumerates payment options for patients who are
admitted in the hospital’s ward. The continued
detention and restriction of Petitioner’s movement
gives rise to a crime of serious illegal detention;

13. Petitioner, having no other recourse, humbly

asks the intervention of this Honorable Court, so as
to compel herein Respondent to release Petitioner
whom they have been unlawfully restraining. The
continued illegal confinement of herein respondent
Hospital will inevitably result to their bill increasing
substantially each day as the latter charging the
 5

Petitioner of her stay therein for P1,900.00 per night

thus, making it impossible for her to pay the full
amount of her hospital bill;

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is most

respectfully prayed that after the filing of this instant
Petition, a Writ of Habeas Corpus be issued directing
respondent to make a return showing legal authority to
detain Petitioner, and thereafter, present the latter
personally before the Court on a date and time it
chooses.

Thereafter, it is likewise prayed that the Honorable

Court order the Respondent to release from their
custody.

Other measures of relief just and equitable under

the premises are likewise prayed for.

City of Roxas, 24 April 2019.

FOR:
DELA PIEZA-LAYO and TIDONG LAW OFFICE
Inzo Arnaldo St., Roxas City

By:

CHRISTIAN BRYANN G. TIDONG

Counsel for the Plaintiffs
Roll No. 67286
PTR No. 5800366/12-13-17
IBP No. 039000/6-07-18
MCLE Compliance No VI-0007004/ 21-03-18
Inzo Arnaldo St., Roxas City, Capiz
09278740253
 6

VERIFICATION/CERTIFICATION
OF NON-FORUM SHOPPING

I, MAELYN D. ARROJADO, of legal age, single, and

with address at Cherry Hills, Subdvision, Milibili, Roxas
City, after having been duly sworn to in accordance with
law, do hereby depose that:

1. I am the petitioner in the above-entitled case;

2. I have caused the preparation of the foregoing

Petition for Habeas Corpus filed before this Honorable
Court;

3. I have read and understood the same and all

allegations therein are true, correct, and of my own
personal knowledge and/or based on authentic
documents;

4. I hereby certify that: (a) I have not commenced

any other action or proceeding involving the same issues
 7

thereto with the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or

different divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or
agency (b) if there is any action or proceeding involving
the same issues which is pending before the Supreme
Court, the Court of Appeals, or any tribunal or agency,
we will state the status thereof; (d) should we learn
hereafter that a similar action or proceeding involving
the same issues is filed or is pending before the Supreme
Court, Court of Appeals, or any tribunal or agency, I will
report that fact within five (5) days from knowledge
thereof to this Honorable Court and to the court where
the original pleading had been filed.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand

this __________ 2019, the City of Roxas, Capiz.

MAELYN D. ARROJADO
Affi ant

SUBSCRIBED and SWORN to before me this

__________ 2019, in the City of Roxas, Capiz, affi ant
personally appearing before me and having been
identified by their competent evidence
of.identity:_________________________;_____________________
___ bearing her name, photograph, and signature.