ARRESTS, SEARCHES AND SEIZURES

 Art. III, Sec. 2 and 3

Sec. 2. Art. Ill: “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 a judge, after
examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may
produce, particularly describing the place to be searched, or the persons or things
to the seized.”

Sec. 3. Art. Ill:

“1. The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except
upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise,
as prescribed by law.
2. Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be
inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.”

DOES THE CONSTITUTION PROHIBIT ALL TYPES OF SERCHES AND SEIZURES?

- No. Only unreasonable SS.

WHAT ARE THE 2 Parts of Sec. 2, Art. III?

1. Constitutional guarantee
2. Requisites of search warrant

WHAT IS A WARRANT?
- 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.

WHAT IS A SEARCH WARRANT?

- A 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 personal property described therein and bring it before the court.

MAY A SEARCH WARRANT BE ISSUED FOR THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE OF REAL
PROPERTY?
- No. Real property cannot be a subject of a search warrant because of physical
impossibility to bring the property before the court. Under RoC, only personal property
may be subject of search warrant, which may be:

a. Subject of offense.
b. Stolen or embezzled and its fruits.
c. Used or intended to be used for the commission of the offense.
WHAT IS THE LIFETIME OF A SEARCH WARRANT?
- A search warrant shall be valid for ten (10) days from its date. Thereafter it shall be void.
(Sec. 10, Rule 126)

- A warrant of arrest has no lifetime and it is valid until served. But the head of the office
to whom the warrant of arrest was delivered for execution shall cause the warrant to be
executed within ten (10)
days from its receipt. Within ten (10) days after the expiration of the period, the officer to
whom it was assigned for execution shall make a report to the judge who issued the
warrant. In case of his failure to execute the warrant, he shall state the reasons therefore.
(Sec. 4, Rule 113)

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WARRANT OF ARREST and SEARCH WARRANT

i) Warrant of Arrest. A warrant of arrest is said to particularly describe the person to be

seized if it contains the name/s of the person/s to be arrested. If the name of the person
to be arrested is not known, then a “John Doe” warrant may be issued. A “John Doe"
warrant will satisfy the constitutional requirement of particularity of description if there is
some descriptio persona which will enable the officer to identify the accused.

ii) Search Warrant. A search warrant may be said to particularly describe the things to
be seized when the description therein is as specific as the circumstances will ordinarily
allow [People v. Rubio, 57 Phil 384]; or when the description expresses a conclusion of
fact, not of law, by which the warrant officer may be guided in making the search and
seizure; or when the things described are limited to those which bear direct relation to the
offense for which the warrant is being issued [Bache & Co. v. Ruiz, 37 SCRA 823], If the
articles desired to be seized have any direct relation to an offense committed, the
applicant must necessarily have some evidence other than those articles, to prove said
offense; and the articles subject of search and seizure should come in handy merely to
strengthen such evidence [Columbia Pictures v. Court of Appeals, G. R. No. 111267,
September 20, 1996].