Erlinda Kalaw Ilusorio is the wife of lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio.

The
latter is about 86 years of age possessed of extensive property valued
at millions of pesos. The two lived together for a period of 30 years. Out
of their marriage, the spouses had 6 children. In 1972, they separated
from bed and board for undisclosed reasons.
in 1997, upon Potencianos arrival from the United States, he stayed
with Erlinda for about 5 months in Antipolo. The children, Sylvia and
Erlinda, alleged that during this time, their mother gave Potenciano an
overdose of an antidepressant drug prescribed by his doctor. As a
consequence, Potencianos health deteriorated.
Erlinda filed with the RTC a petition for guardianship over the person
and property of Potenciano Ilusorio due to the latters advanced age, frail
health, poor eyesight and impaired judgment.
On May 31, 1998, after attending a corporate meeting, Potenciano Il did
not return to Antipolo City and instead lived at a condominium in Makati.
Erlinda filed with the Court of Appeals a petition for habeas corpus to
have the custody of Potenciano . She alleged that respondents refused
petitioners demands to see and visit her husband and prohibited
Potenciano from returning to Antipolo City.
Issue:
Won a wife may secure a writ of habeas corpus to compel her husband to live
with her in conjugal bliss
Held: no.

a writ of habeas corpus extends to all cases of illegal confinement or

detention, or by which the rightful custody of a person is withheld from
the one entitled thereto. It is available where a person continues to be
unlawfully denied of one or more of his constitutional freedoms, where
there is denial of due process, where the restraints are not merely
involuntary but are unnecessary, and where a deprivation of freedom
originally valid has later become arbitrary. It is devised as a speedy and
effectual remedy to relieve persons from unlawful restraint, as the best
and only sufficient defense of personal freedom. The essential object
and purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to inquire into all manner of
involuntary restraint, and to relieve a person therefrom if such restraint
is illegal. To justify the grant of the petition, the restraint of liberty must

be an illegal and involuntary deprivation of freedom of action. The illegal

restraint of liberty must be actual and effective, not merely nominal or
moral.
The evidence shows that there was no actual and effective detention or
deprivation of lawyer Potenciano Ilusorios liberty that would justify the
issuance of the writ. The fact that lawyer Potenciano Ilusorio is about 86
years of age, or under medication does not necessarily render him
mentally incapacitated. Soundness of mind does not hinge on age or
medical condition but on the capacity of the individual to discern his
actions.