1. Article III
BILL OF RIGHTS
SECTION 2
RIGHT AGAINST UNREASONABLE
ARREST, SEARCH AND SEIZURE
2. The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable
searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any
purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or
warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable
cause to be determined personally by the judge after
examination under oath or affirmation of the
complainant and the witness he may produce,
particularly describing the place to be searched and the
persons or things to be seized.
Article III. Section 2 states that:
3. Scope of the Protection:
1. Persons -the protection applies to everybody, to citizens as
well as aliens in the Philippines, whether accused of crime or
not.
2. Houses –the protection is not limited to dwelling houses but
extends to a garage, warehouse, shop, store, office, and even
a safety deposit vault.
3. Papers and effect –they include sealed letters and packages
in the mail.
4. Meaning of Search Warrant and Warrant of
Arrest
• Search warrant – is an order in writing, issued in
the name of the People of the Philippines, signed by
a judge and directed to a peace officer, commanding
him to search for certain personal property and
bring it before the court.
• Warrant of arrest –a written order issued by the
judge to arrest a person or take him into custody to
make him answer for an offense in violation of a
law.
5. Requisites for valid search warrant or warrant of arrest:
1. It must be issued upon probable cause;
2. The probable cause must be determined personally
by the judge;
3. Such judge must examine under oath or affirmation,
the complainant and the witnesses he may produce
to determine the existence of probable cause;
4. The warrant must particularly describe the place to
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
6. Sufficiency of affidavit upon which the warrant
based.
The true test of sufficiency of an affidavit to warrant
issuance of a search warrant is whether it had been
drawn in such manner that perjury could be charged
thereon and affiant be held liable for damages
caused.
The affidavit is insufficient if it is based on mere
information and belief, or on mere hearsay.
7. Sufficiency of description.
1) Place – a description of the place to be searched is sufficient
if the officer with a search warrant can with reasonable effort
ascertain and identify the place intended.
2) Person –as a rule, a warrant of arrest for the apprehension of
an unnamed party upon whom it is to be served is void
except in those cases where it contains a description of the
person or such as will enable the officer to identify the
accused.
3) Property –the description of the property is required to be
specific only in so far as the circumstances will ordinarily
allow.
8. Right against unreasonable search and
seizure personal.
1. Proper party to invoke right.
-the legality of a search and seizure can be contested only
by the party whose personal rights were involved.
2. Right subject to waiver.
-without a proper search warrant, no public official has
the right to enter the premises of another without his consent
for the purpose of search and seizure.
9. When Is An Arrest Without Warrant Lawful?
1. When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has
committed, is actually committing or is attempting to commit
an offense.
2. When an offense has in fact been committed and he has
personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be
arrested has committed it.
3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has
escaped from penal establishment or place where he is
serving final judgment or temporarily confined while his case
is pending or has escaped while being transferred from one
confinement to another.
10. When Is A Search And Seizure Without
Warrant Lawful?
1. Where there is consent or waiver.
2. Where search is an incident to lawful arrest.
3. In the case of contraband or forfeited goods being
transported by ship or automobile or other vehicle,
where the officer making it has reasonable cause for
believing that the latter contains them, in view of the
difficulty attendant to securing a search warrant.
11. 4. Where, without a search, the possession of articles prohibited
by law is disclosed to plain view or is open to eye and hand;
5. As an incident of inspection, supervision and regulation in
the exercise of the police power such as inspection of
restaurants by health officers, of factories by labor inspectors,
etc. the same thing may be said of inspection of books of
accounts by revenue examiners; and
6. Routinary searches usually made at the border or at ports of
entry in the interest of national security and for the proper
enforcement of customs and immigration laws.
