Warrantless searches

Joe Pallugna

I AM writing this column not for lawyers and prosecutors but for laymen and policemen who are often unsure of the procedures and legal requirements and are often the victims of their own ignorance. Likewise, policemen often commit acts with the good intentions but their actions are nullified because they violate the law.

The ruling of the Supreme Court in the recently-decided case of People of the Philippines versus Gerrjan Manago (G.R. No. 212340, Aug. 17, 2016) defines with more clarity the issue of warrantless arrests.

This is the case where the police arrested Manago at a checkpoint they set up to arrest a robbery suspect. The robbery happened a day earlier and the police already had the information that the red Toyota Corolla registered in the name of Manago was used as the get-away vehicle.

At the checkpoint, as Manago drove by, the police flagged him down and searched his car. Finding nothing, they then frisked Manago and found a sachet of shabu in his pocket. They then arrested him and charged him for shabu possession.

The issue of validity of the warrantless search consequent to a warrantless arrest then arose at the Supreme Court after Manago was convicted by the RTC and the Court of Appeals.

Ruling on these issues, the High Tribunal defined that: “Section 2, Article III of the 1987 Constitution mandates that a search and seizure must be carried out through or on the strength of a judicial warrant predicated upon the existence of probable cause, absent of which such searches and seizure becomes ‘unreasonable’ within the meaning of the constitutional provisions… In other words, evidence obtained from unreasonable searches and seizures shall be inadmissible in evidence for any purpose in any proceedings.

One of the recognized exceptions to the need of a warrant before a search may be effected is a search incidental to a lawful arrest. In this instance, the law requires that there first be a lawful arrest before a search can be made–the process cannot be reversed.”

It simply means that if there is no search warrant issued by a judge, the police cannot search a person and, finding shabu for instance in his pocket, arrest him. There must be a valid arrest first and the warrantless search may then validly follow.

But when can there be a valid warrantless arrest?

An arrest without warrant can be made by a peace officer, or a private person, when (a) in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense, and (b) when an offense has just been committed and he has probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts and circumstances that the person to be arrested has committed it, and (c) when the person to be arrested is an escapee from prison.

“In warrantless arrests, it is essential that the element of personal knowledge must be coupled with the element of immediacy; otherwise, the arrest may be nullified…”

Circumstances may pertain to events or actions within the actual perception, personal evaluation or observation of the police officer at the scene of the crime. Thus, even though the police officer has not seen someone actually fleeing, he could still make a warrantless arrest if, based on his personal evaluation of the circumstances at the scene of the crime, he could determine the existence of probable cause and the gathering of facts or circumstances should be made immediately after the commission of the crime in order to comply with the element of immediacy.”

In this present case, the police officers took one day to effect the arrest, and only after they have already investigated the surrounding circumstances and identified the car owner. They could have obtained the proper warrant and the Supreme Court acquitted the accused Manago considering the lack of immediacy. The lapse of time invalidated the claimed “hot pursuit” operations and the arrest being illegal, the search and seizure of the shabu was likewise illegal.

So in similar situations in the future, the policemen can now be well-informed of whether to effect the warrantless arrest and the warrantless search.

E-mail: ajpallugna@gmail.com