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RE : SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES FOR THE ISSUANCE OF VALID

ADMINISTRATIVE WARRANTS

DATE : 1 April 2024

The Philippine Constitution guarantees that “no person shall be

deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall
any person be denied the equal protection of the laws”. In this regard, the
duty to determine the propriety of issuing warrants of arrest and seizure has
been bestowed upon judges, acting as gatekeepers of justice to ensure that a
person’s civil rights are not arbitrarily infringed upon by the State.

Nevertheless, the rule that only judges can determine the existence of
probable cause for the issuance of such warrants does not apply to
deportation proceedings, where the President or the Bureau of Immigration
may issue deportation orders commanding law enforcement officers to
arrest an unwarranted alien who will be subjected to deportation
proceedings. The rationale behind this exception is the fact that deportation
proceedings are not criminal in nature, as its end objective is merely to
deport the alien.

In issuing administrative warrants, administrative agencies must

ensure compliance with the following guidelines: (1) the danger, harm, or

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evil sought to be prevented by the warrant must be imminent and must be

greater than the damage or injury to be sustained by the one who shall be
temporarily deprived of a right to liberty or property; (2) the warrant’s
resultant deprivation of a right or legitimate claim of entitlement must be
temporary or provisional, aimed only at suppressing imminent danger,
harm, or evil and such deprivation’s permanency must be strictly subjected
to procedural due process requirements; (3) the issuing administrative
authority must be empowered by law to perform specific implementing acts
pursuant to well-defined regulatory purposes; (4) the issuing administrative
authority must be necessarily authorized by law to pass upon and make final
pronouncements on conflicting rights and obligations; (5) the issuance of an
administrative warrant must be based on tangible proof of probable cause
and comply with due process requirements; (6) the warrant issued must not
pertain to a criminal offense or pursued as a precursor for the filing of
criminal charges and any object seized pursuant to such writ shall not be
admissible in any criminal proceeding; (7) the person temporarily deprived
of a right or entitlement by an administrative warrant shall be formally
charged within a reasonable time if no such period is provided by law; (8)
any violation of the foregoing guidelines is prima facie proof of commission
of certain crimes under the law.

For more details, please refer to Board of Commissioners of the Bureau

of Immigration and the Jail Warden v. Wenle, G.R. No. 242957, 28 February
2023.

For more information or assistance, please feel free to contact Mr.

Oliver L. Pantaleon, (olpantaleon@accralaw.com), Ms. Patricia Kay L.
Tysmans-Clemente, (ptclemente@accralaw.com) and Mr. Jaims Gabriel L.
Orencia, (jlorencia@accralaw.com ).

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