Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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* SECOND DIVISION.
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VOL. 826, JUNE 7, 2017 383
Veridiano vs. People
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384 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
Veridiano vs. People
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VOL. 826, JUNE 7, 2017 385
Veridiano vs. People
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386 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
Veridiano vs. People
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Veridiano vs. People
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388 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
Veridiano vs. People
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VOL. 826, JUNE 7, 2017 389
Veridiano vs. People
LEONEN, J.:
Through this Petition for Review on Certiorari,1 Mario
Veridiano y Sapi (Veridiano) assails the Decision2 dated
November 18, 2011 and Resolution3 dated January 25,
2012 of the Court of Appeals in C.A.-G.R. CR No. 33588,
which affirmed his conviction for violation of Article II,
Section 11 of Republic Act No. 9165.4
In an Information filed before the Regional Trial Court
of San Pablo City, Laguna,5 Veridiano was charged with
the crime of illegal possession of dangerous drugs. The
Information read:
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On October 9, 2008, Veridiano was arraigned. He
pleaded not guilty to the offense charged. Trial on the
merits ensued.7
During trial, the prosecution presented PO1 Guillermo
Cabello (PO1 Cabello) and PO1 Daniel Solano (PO1 Solano)
to testify.8
According to the prosecution, at about 7:20 a.m. of
January 15, 2008, a concerned citizen called a certain PO3
Esteves, police radio operator of the Nagcarlan Police
Station, informing him that a certain alias “Baho,” who
was later identified as Veridiano, was on the way to San
Pablo City to obtain illegal drugs.9
PO3 Esteves immediately relayed the information to
PO1 Cabello and PO2 Alvin Vergara (PO2 Vergara) who
were both on duty.10 Chief of Police June Urquia instructed
PO1 Cabello and PO2 Vergara to set up a checkpoint at
Barangay Taytay, Nagcarlan, Laguna.11
The police officers at the checkpoint personally knew
Veridiano. They allowed some vehicles to pass through
after checking that he was not onboard.12 At around 10:00
a.m., they chanced upon Veridiano inside a passenger
jeepney coming
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6 Id.
7 Id.
8 Id., at p. 10.
9 Id.
10 Id.
11 Id.
12 Id.
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13 Id., at p. 11.
14 Id., at p. 34.
15 Id.
16 Id.
17 Id.
18 Id., at p. 66.
19 Id., at p. 11.
20 Id.
21 Id., at p. 35.
22 Id., at p. 11.
23 Id.
24 Id.
25 Id.
392
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26 Id.
27 Id.
28 Id.
29 Id.
30 Id., at pp. 11-12.
31 Id., at pp. 64-72. The Decision, docketed as Crim. Case No. 16976-
SP, was penned by Presiding Judge Agripino G. Morga of Branch 32,
Regional Trial Court of San Pablo City.
32 Id., at p. 72.
33 Id., at p. 37.
34 Id.
35 Id., at p. 41.
36 Id., at p. 88, Brief for the Plaintiff-Appellee.
393
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37 Id.
38 Id.
39 Id., at pp. 31-44.
40 Id., at p. 43.
41 Id., at p. 37.
42 Id., at p. 40.
43 Id.
44 Id., at pp. 46-47.
45 Id., at pp. 8-29.
46 Id., at pp. 14-18.
47 Id.
394
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48 Id., at p. 16.
49 Id.
50 Id., at p. 17.
51 Const., Art. III, Sec. 2 provides:
Section 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 witnesses he may produce, and
particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things
to be seized.
52 Const., Art. III, Sec. 3(2) provides:
Section 3.
. . . .
(2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section
shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.
53 Rollo, pp. 17-18.
54 Id., at p. 19.
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To underscore the importance of an individual’s right
against unlawful searches and seizures, Article III, Section
3(2) of the Constitution considers any evidence obtained in
violation of this right as inadmissible.64
The Constitutional guarantee does not prohibit all forms
of searches and seizures.65 It is only directed against those
that are unreasonable.66 Conversely, reasonable searches
and seizures fall outside the scope of the prohibition and
are not forbidden.67
In People v. Aruta,68 this Court explained that the
language of the Constitution implies that “searches and
seizures are normally unreasonable unless authorized by a
validly issued
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399
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The first kind of warrantless arrest is known as an in
flagrante delicto arrest. The validity of this warrantless
arrest requires compliance with the overt act test79 as
explained in Cogaed:
Failure to comply with the overt act test renders an in
flagrante delicto arrest constitutionally infirm. In Cogaed,
the warrantless arrest was invalidated as an in flagrante
delicto arrest because the accused did not exhibit an overt
act within the view of the police officers suggesting that he
was in possession of illegal drugs at the time he was
apprehended.81
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401
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82 People v. Racho, supra note 61.
83 Id., at pp. 679-680; pp. 646-647.
84 Id., at pp. 671-672; p. 643.
85 Id.
86 Id.
87 Id.
88 Id.
89 Id.
90 Id.
91 Id. This Court cited People v. Maspil, Jr., 266 Phil. 815; 188 SCRA
751 (1990) [Per J. Gutierrez, Jr., Third Division]; People v. Bagista, 288
Phil. 828; 214 SCRA 63 (1992) [Per J. Nocon, Second Division]; People v.
Balingan, 311 Phil. 290; 241 SCRA 277 (1995) [Per J. Puno, Second
Division]; People v. Lising, 341 Phil. 801; 275 SCRA 804 (1997) [Per J.
Melo, Third Division]; and People v. Montilla, 349 Phil. 640; 285 SCRA
703 (1998) [Per J. Regalado, En Banc].
402
92 Malacat v. Court of Appeals, 347 Phil. 462, 479; 283 SCRA 159, 174
(1997) [Per J. Davide, Jr., En Banc].
93 In the Matter of the Petition for Habeas Corpus of Datukan Malang
Salibo v. Warden, Quezon City Jail Annex, BJMP Building, Camp Bagong
Diwa, Taguig City, 757 Phil. 630, 656; 755 SCRA 296, 326 (2015) [Per J.
Leonen, Second Division] citing the Dissenting Opinion of J. Teehankee
in Ilagan v. Enrile, 223 Phil. 561; 139 SCRA 349 (1985) [Per J. Melencio-
Herrera, En Banc].
94 Id.
95 292-A Phil. 34; 219 SCRA 756 (1993) [Per J. Griño-Aquino, First
Division].
96 Id., at p. 39; p. 760.
97 Id.
98 Id.
403
The policemen arrested Gerente only some three (3) hours after
Gerente and his companions had killed Blace. They saw Blace
dead in the hospital and when they inspected the scene of the
crime, they found the instruments of death: a piece of wood and a
concrete hollow block which the killers had used to bludgeon him
to death. The eye-witness, Edna Edwina Reyes, reported the
happening to the policemen and pinpointed her neighbor,
Gerente, as one of the killers. Under those circumstances, since the
policemen had personal knowledge of the violent death of Blace
and of facts indicating that Gerente and two others had killed
him, they could lawfully arrest Gerente without a warrant. If they
had postponed his arrest until they could obtain a warrant, he
would have fled the law as his two companions did.99 (Emphasis
supplied)
The requirement that law enforcers must have personal
knowledge of facts surrounding the commission of an
offense was underscored in In Re Salibo v. Warden.100
In Re Salibo involved a petition for habeas corpus. The
police officers suspected Datukan Salibo (Salibo) as one (1)
of the accused in the Maguindanao Massacre.101 Salibo
presented himself before the authorities to clear his name.
Despite his explanation, Salibo was apprehended and
detained.102 In granting the petition, this Court pointed out
that Salibo was not restrained under a lawful court process
or order.103 Furthermore, he was not arrested pursuant to a
valid warrantless arrest:104
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404
In this case, petitioner’s arrest could not be justified as
an in flagrante delicto arrest under Rule 113, Section 5(a)
of the Rules of Court. He was not committing a crime at the
checkpoint. Petitioner was merely a passenger who did not
exhibit any unusual conduct in the presence of the law
enforcers that would incite suspicion. In effecting the
warrantless arrest, the police officers relied solely on the
tip they received. Reliable information alone is insufficient
to support a warrantless arrest absent any overt act from
the person to be arrested indicating that a crime has just
been committed, was being committed, or is about to be
committed.106
The warrantless arrest cannot likewise be justified
under Rule 113, Section 5(b) of the Revised Rules of
Criminal Procedure. The law enforcers had no personal
knowledge of any fact or circumstance indicating that
petitioner had just committed an offense.
A hearsay tip by itself does not justify a warrantless
arrest. Law enforcers must have personal knowledge of
facts, based on their observation, that the person sought to
be arrested has just committed a crime. This is what gives
rise to prob-
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405
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107 People v. Chua, supra note 80.
108 Id., at pp. 773-774; p. 670.
109 Supra note 92 at p. 480; p. 176.
110 Supra note 62 at p. 232; p. 439.
111 Supra note 92 at p. 481; pp. 176-177.
112 Id.
113 Supra note 62 at p. 233; p. 446, citing J. Bersamin, Dissenting
Opinion in Esquilo v. People, 643 Phil. 577; 629 SCRA 370 (2010) [Per J.
Carpio-Morales, Third Division].
406
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114 345 Phil. 632; 280 SCRA 400 (1997) [Per J. Panganiban, Third
Division].
115 Id., at p. 638; p. 405.
116 Id.
117 Id.
118 Id.
119 Id.
120 Id., at p. 647; pp. 414-415.
121 330 Phil. 811; 262 SCRA 255 (1996) [Per J. Romero, Second
Division].
122 Id., at pp. 814-815; p. 257.
123 Id.
124 Id.
125 Id.
407
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126 Id.
127 Supra note 62.
128 Id., at p. 221; p. 433.
129 Id.
130 Id.
131 Id., at pp. 221-222; p. 434.
132 Id., at p. 234; pp. 446-447.
133 Id., at pp. 236-237; pp. 451-452.
408
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134 Caballes v. Court of Appeals, 424 Phil. 263, 286; 373 SCRA 221,
239 (2002) [Per J. Puno, First Division].
135 Id. See also People v. Nuevas, supra note 76 at p. 373; p. 479.
136 Id.
137 Id.
138 Id., at p. 285; p. 239; People v. Cogaed, supra note 62 at pp. 239-
240; p. 452.
139 Supra note 62.
409
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410
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411
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155 G.R. No. 205823, August 17, 2015, 767 SCRA 40 [Per J. Carpio,
Second Division].
156 Id., at p. 65.
157 Id.
158 Id.
159 Id., at p. 64.
160 635 Phil. 315; 621 SCRA 327 (2010) [Per J. Nachura, Second
Division].
161 Id., at pp. 322-323; p. 333.
162 Id.
412
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163 Id.
164 Id., at p. 325; p. 336.
165 Id., at p. 331; pp. 339-340.
166 People v. Ayangao, 471 Phil. 379; 427 SCRA 428 (2004) [Per J.
Corona, Third Division].
167 443 Phil. 506; 395 SCRA 407 (2003) [Per J. Puno, Third Division].
168 Id., at p. 517; p. 415.
169 People v. Ayangao, supra at p. 384; p. 430.
170 266 Phil. 306; 188 SCRA 288 (1990) [Per J. Gancayo, First
Division].
413
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