HON. ARSENIO N. ROLDAN, JR., and THE PHIL. NAVY, vs. HON.

FRANCISCO ARCA, and MORABE, DE GUZMAN & COMPANY, FACTS: - Respondent company filed a case against Roldan, Jr. for the recovery of fishing vessel Tony Lex VI which had been seized and impo nded by petitioner !isheries "ommissioner thro gh the #hilippine $avy. The "!I %anila granted it, th s respondent company too& #ossession of the vessel Tony Lex VI. ' #etitioner re( ested the #hilippine $avy to apprehend vessels Tony Lex VI and Tony Lex III, also respectively called )rta. *innie and )rta. +gnes, for alleged violations of some provisions of the !isheries +ct. ,n + g st - or ., /0.-, the two fishing boats were act ally seized for illegal fishing with dynamite. The !iscal filed an ex parte motion to hold the boats in c stody as instr ments and therefore evidence of the crime, and cabled the !isheries "ommissioner to detain the vessels. ,n ,ctober 1 and 2, li&ewise, the "!I of #alawan ordered the #hilippine $avy to ta&e the boats in c stody. J dge !rancisco +rca iss ed an order granting the iss ance of the writ of preliminary mandatory in3 nction and iss ed the preliminary writ pon the filing by the company of a bond of #-,444.44 for the release of the two vessels. ,n /0 ,ctober /0.-, the "ommission and the $avy filed a motion for reconsideration of the order iss ing the preliminary writ J dge +rca denied the said motion for reconsideration. The "ommission and the $avy filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with preliminary in3 nction to restrain J dge +rca from enforcing his order dated /5 ,ctober /0.-, and the writ of preliminary mandatory in3 nction there nder iss ed. ISSUE6 *,$ a police officer can search witho t warrant HELD: 78). )earch and seiz re witho t search warrant of vessels and air crafts for violations of the c stoms laws have been the traditional exception to the constit tional re( irement of a search warrant, beca se the vessel can be ( ic&ly moved o t of the locality or 3 risdiction in which the search warrant m st be so ght before s ch warrant co ld be sec red9 hence it is not practicable to re( ire a search warrant before s ch search or seiz re can be constit tionally effected. The same exception sho ld apply to seiz res of fishing vessels breaching o r fishery laws. They are s ally e( ipped with powerf l motors that enable them to el de p rs ing ships of the #hilippine $avy or "oast : ard. ;nder o r R les of "o rt, a police officer or a private individ al may, witho t a warrant, arrest a person <a= who has committed, is act ally committing or is abo t to commit an offense in his presence9 <b= who is reasonably believed to have committed an offense which has been act ally

committed9 or <c= who is a prisoner who has escaped from confinement while serving a final 3 dgment or from temporary detention d ring the pendency of his case or while being transferred from one confinement to another. In the case at bar, the members of the crew of the two vessels were ca ght in flagrante illegally fishing with dynamite and witho t the re( isite license. Th s their apprehension witho t a warrant of arrest while committing a crime is lawf l. "onse( ently, the seiz re of the vessel, its e( ipment and dynamites therein was e( ally valid as an incident to a lawf l arrest. In the case at bar, the members of the crew of the two vessels were ca ght in flagrante illegally fishing with dynamite and witho t the re( isite license. Th s their apprehension witho t a warrant of arrest while committing a crime is lawf l. "onse( ently, the seiz re of the vessel, its e( ipment and dynamites therein was e( ally valid as an incident to a lawf l arrest. THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, vs. LO HO ING alias PETER LO, LIM CHENG HUAT alias ANTONIO LIM and REYNALDO TIA ! SANTIAGO, d"#"ndan$%. LO HO ING alias PETER LO FACTS: ' #eter Lo, together with Lim "heng > at alias +ntonio Lim and Reynaldo Tia, were charged with a violation of the ?angero s ?r gs +ct of /0@1. ,nly #eter Lo and Lim "heng > at were convicted. ' In J ly /05@, the )pecial ,perations :ro p, a nit of the "riminal Investigation )ervice <"I)= of the #hilippine "onstab lary <#"=, received a tip from one of its informers abo t an organized gro p engaged in the importation of illegal dr gs, sm ggling of contraband goods, and g nr nning. +fter an eval ation of the information received, a pro3ect codenamed A,#L+$ )>+R,$ 55@A was created to b st the s spected syndicate. +s part of the operations, the recr itment of confidential men and Adeep penetration agentsB was carried o t. ,ne of those recr ited was Reynaldo Tia. The latter offered his services to Lim as his ompanion for his b siness nips abroad. In the co rse of their meetings in "hina, Tia was introd ced to #eter Lo whom Tia fo nd o t to be the person he was to accompany to "hina in lie of Lim. +s a Adeep penetration agent,A Tia reg larly s bmitted reports of his ndercover activities on the s spected criminal syndicate. ' Tia and #eter went to : angzho . They went to a local store where #eter p rchased . tin cans of tea. Tia saw the paper tea bags when the cans were opened for examination d ring the p rchase. +fterwards, they ret rned to the hotel. #eter &ept the cans of tea in his hotel room. That evening, Tia went to #eterBs room to tal& to him. ;pon entering, he saw two other men with #eter. ,ne was fixing the tea bags, while the other was b rning s bstance on a piece of al min m foil sing a cigarette lighter. #eter 3oined the second man and sniffed the smo&e emitted by the b rning s bstance.

Tia as&ed the latter what they wo ld be bringing bac& to the #hilippines. >e was informed that their cargo consisted of "hinese dr gs. ' *hen the 1 arrived in the #hil., the car of the operatives overtoo& the taxicab ridden by #eter and Tia and c t into its path forcing the taxi driver to stop his vehicle, approached the taxicab, and as&ed the driver to open the baggage compartment. C pcs. of l ggage were retrieved. They re( ested from the s spects permission to search their l ggage. + tin can of tea was ta&en o t of the red traveling bag of #eter. ? ring the investigation, a total of -. paper tea bags with white crystalline powder were fo nd and tested and was fo nd o t that it was metamphetamine. ISSUE: *,$ the warrantless search and seiz re made against is illegal HELD: The search and seiz re m st be s pported by a valid warrant, is not an absol te r le. There are at least C well'recognized exceptions6 D/E a search incidental to an arrest, D1E a search of a moving vehicle , and DCE seiz re of evidence in plain view. The circ mstances of the case clearly show that the search in ( estion was made as regards a moving vehicle. Therefore, a valid warrant was not necessary to effect the search on appellant and his co'acc sed. + warrantless search of a moving vehicle is 3 stified on the gro nd that Ait is not practicable to sec re a warrant beca se the vehicle can be ( ic&ly moved o t of the locality or 3 risdiction in which the warrant m st be so ght.A In the instant case, it was firmly established from the fact al findings of the trial co rt that the a thorities had reasonable gro nd to believe that appellant wo ld attempt to bring in contraband and transport it within the co ntry. The belief was based on intelligence reports gathered from s rveillance activities on the s spected syndicate, of which appellant was to ted to be a member. . The discharge of acc sed Tia was based on )ection 0, R le //0 of the R les of "o rt, which reads in part6 )ec. 0. Discharge of the accused to be state witness. F *hen two or more persons are 3ointly charged with the commission of any offense, pon motion of the prosec tion before resting its case,the court may direct one or more of the acc sed to be discharged with their consent so that they may be witnesses for the state . . P"&'(" )%. Ba(*n+an ,GR -./012, -1 F"345a4! -66/7 Fa8$%: ,n C/ + g st /055, the $arcotics Intelligence ?ivision of the Gag io "ity #olice )tation received a telephone call from an nnamed male informant. >e passed the information that Jean Galingan y Gobbonan was going to %anila with a bag filled with mari3 ana. +cting on the information, then #HLt. %an el ,brera formed a s rveillance team to monitor GalinganBs movements. The team as deployed at different places in Gag io "ity, incl ding GalinganBs ho se on Groo&side and b s stations. "pl. :arcia soon reported seeing Galingan move o t from her residence at Groo&side and board a taxicab which proceeded to the direction of Gonifacio )treet. Galingan was wearing a pin& dress and carrying a gray l ggage with orange or yellow belts.

)he also reported the ma&e and plate n mber of the taxicab which Galingan boarded. ;pon receiving the report, Lt. ,brera ordered "pl. :arcia to proceed to the #hilippine Rabbit Terminal in case Galingan wo ld go there. #at. Iimay, who m st have intercepted "pl. :arciaBs message, also reported that the taxicab described by the latter passed along Gonifacio Rot nda. Lt. ,brera instr cted him to move o t and proceed to the #olice "hec&point at Iennon Road going to the #hilippine %ilitary +cademy. !rom his post at the ?angwa G s )tation, #at. G eno informed Lt. ,brera that Galingan boarded a ?angwa G s with plate n mber $T;'/-C bo nd for %anila. Lt. ,brera promptly proceeded to the b s station to verify the report. There, he went p the b s described by #at. G eno, and he saw Galingan on the third or fo rth seat behind the driverBs seat. In the l ggage carrier above her head was the gray l ggage earlier described by "pl. :arcia. >e then left and positioned himself with ,ng at the La&and la b rned area to wait for the b s to depart. +t abo t //644 a.m., the b s moved o t <on its way= to %anila via Iennon Road. Lt. ,brera instr cted #at. Iimay, who was at the Iennon Road "hec&point, to stop the b s when it reaches the place. %eanwhile, Lt. ,brera and Lt. ,ng tailed the b s at abo t /- to 14 meters behind. +s instr cted, #at. Iimay stopped the b s at the Iennon Road "hec&point. That was already at //6C4 a.m. Lt. ,brera and #at. ,ng arrived at the "hec&point less than a min te after the b s did and immediately boarded it. Lt. ,brera anno nced a ro tinary chec&' p. #at. ,ng identified himself as a policeman to Galingan and as&ed her permission to chec& her l ggage, she did not respond and 3 st loo&ed o tside the window. >e opened the l ggage in the l ggage carrier overhead and above Galingan and fo nd s spected mari3 ana in it. >e p lled o t the l ggage and t rned it over to Lt. ,brera. There pon, Lt. ,brera tried to arrest Galingan b t the latter resisted and tried to bite his hand and f rthermore held tightly onto the window pane. Lt. ,brera as&ed #at. ,ng to fetch "pl. :arcia from the #hilippine Rabbit Terminal in the "ity proper, so that she wo ld be the one to bring o t Galingan from the b s. In the meantime, he remained inside the b s holding the confiscated l ggage while the other passengers alighted from the b s. +fter some C4 min tes, :arcia arrived and p lled Galingan o t of the b s and bro ght her to the Gag io "ity #olice )tation and there loc&ed her p in 3ail. ,n 12 ,ctober /055, Galingan was charged with Violation of )ec. 2, +rt. II of Rep blic +ct .21-, otherwise &nown as AThe ?angero s ?r gs +ct. ,n 2 +pril /050, Galingan was arraigned and pleaded not g ilty. +fter trial, Galingan was convicted by the Regional Trial "o rt of Gag io "ity, Granch 2, and was sentenced to s ffer the penalty of life imprisonment9 to pay a fine of #14,444.44 witho t s bsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency9 and to pay the costs. Galingan appealed. I%%5": *hether the search cond cted in the ?angwa b s, s bse( ent to police s rveillance p rs ant to an informantJs tip, is valid. H"(d6 The search and seiz re herein happened in a moving, p blic vehicle. The r les governing search and seiz re have over the years been steadily liberalized whenever a moving vehicle is the ob3ect of the search on the basis

of practicality. This is so considering that before a warrant co ld be obtained, the place, things and persons to be searched m st be described to the satisfaction of the iss ing 3 dge F a re( irement which borders on the impossible in the case of sm ggling effected by the se of a moving vehicle that can transport contraband from one place to another with imp nity. + warrantless search of a moving vehicle is 3 stified on the gro nd that Ait is not practicable to sec re a warrant beca se the vehicle can be ( ic&ly moved o t of the locality or 3 risdiction in which the warrant m st be so ght.A ;n( estionably, the warrantless search herein is not bereft of a probable ca se. The Gag io I$# $arcotics Intelligence ?ivision received an information that Galingan was going to transport mari3 ana in a bag to %anila. Their s rveillance operations revealed that Galingan, whose movements had been previo sly monitored by the $arcotics ?ivision, boarded a ?angwa b s bo nd for %anila carrying a s spicio s'loo&ing gray l ggage bag. *hen the moving, p blic b s was stopped, her bag, pon inspection, yielded mari3 ana. ;nder those circ mstances, the warrantless search ofGalinganBs bag was not illegal.

BENJAMIN D. OBRA and BRIG. GEN. TOMAS DUMPIT, petitioners, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, SPOUSES JAMES BRETT and JUNE PRILL BRETT,respondents.

FACTS: #etitioner Gen3amin ?. ,bra was, the Regional ?irector of the G rea of %ines and :eo')ciences <G%:)= in Gag io "ity. Jeannette %. :rybos wrote him a letter on behalf of the :illies heirs of #alasa'an, %an&ayan, complaining that private respondents, spo ses James Grett and J ne #rill Grett, had been cond cting illegal mining activities. #etitioner ,bra wrote Grig. :en. Tomas ? mpit, re( esting assistance in apprehending a tr c& allegedly sed by private respondents in illegal mining in the area. #etitioner ,bra re( est to "ol. Gernardo 8stepa, #rovincial "ommander of Geng et, that the latter Kstop momentarily any mining operation or activity, if there be any, of James and J ne #rill ntil the controversy or case has been resolved by Dthe G%:)E.L +ccordingly, elements of R;"'/ nder %a3or : illermo ?ensen and led by ):T. Josefino +. %orales seized, an Is z K8L!L tr c& <+GM'-5@= belonging to private respondents. The tr c& was impo nded by the military and prevented from leaving the area except on mercy missions to transport sic& soldiers and wor&ers to the hospital and when sed to b y food s pplies for the men inside the camp.DCE #rivate respondents then filed a complaint D2E for in3 ction and damages, with an application for temporary restraining order, with the Regional Trial co rt, Granch 5, of Gag io and Geng et. They alleged that the tr c& had been seized witho t prior investigation to determine the existence of probable ca se .

ISSUE: *,$ the warrantless search has a probable ca se. HELD: The tr c& was seized while it was entering the mining area9 it was not transporting minerals o tside of the area. *ith regard to the search of moving vehicles, this had been 3 stified on the gro nd that the mobility of motor vehicles ma&es it possible for the vehicle to be searched to move o t of the locality or 3 risdiction in which the warrant m st be so ght. This is in no way, however, gives the police officers nlimited discretion to cond ct warrantless searches of a tomobiles in the absence of probable ca se. *hen a vehicle is stopped and s b3ected to an extensive search, s ch a warrantless search has been held to be valid as long as the officers cond cting the search have reasonable or probable ca se to believe before the search that they will find the instr mentality or evidence pertaining to a crime in the vehicle to be searched. There co ld not have been, therefore, any finding of probable ca se that the tr c& was being sed for any illegal mining activities. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs. MARI MUSA ! HANTATALU FACTS: %ari % sa was fo nd g ilty of selling mari3 ana in violation of the ?angero s ?r gs +ct of /0@1. ' ,n ?ecember /C, /050, TH)gt. Gelagra, the leader of a $+R",% team based at "alarian, Namboanga "ity, instr cted )gt. +mado +ni to cond ct s rveillance and test b y on %ari % sa of ) terville, Namboanga "ity. Information received from civilian informer was that % sa was engaged in selling mari3 ana in said place. )o )gt. +mado +ni proceeded to ) terville, in company with a $+R",% civilian informer, to the ho se of %ari % sa. The same civilian informer had also described to him the appearance of %ari % sa. +rriving at the target site, )gt. +ni proceeded to the ho se of % sa, while the rest of the $+R",% gro p positioned themselves at strategic places abo t 04 to /44 meters from %ari % saBs ho se. TH)gt. Gelarga co ld see what went on between +ni and s spect % sa from where he was. +ni approached % sa, who came o t of his ho se, and as&ed +ni what he wanted. +ni said he wanted some more st ff. +ni gave % sa the #14.44 mar&ed money. +fter receiving the money, % sa went bac& to his ho se and came bac& and gave +mado +ni two newspaper wrappers containing dried mari3 ana. +ni opened the two wrappers and inspected the contents. "onvinced that the contents were mari3 ana, +ni wal&ed bac& towards his companions and raised his right hand. The two $+R",% teams, riding the two civilian vehicles, sped towards )gt. +ni. +ni 3oined GelargaBs team and ret rned to the ho se. ISSUE: *,$ the search is valid HELD: *hile a valid search warrant is generally necessary before a search and seiz re may be effected, exceptions to this r le are recognized. Th s, in Alvero v. Dizon, 19 the "o rt stated that. ADtEhe most important exception to

the necessity for a search warrant is the right of search and seiz re as an incident to a lawf l arrest.A 1: R le /1., )ection /1 of the R les of "o rt expressly a thorizes a warrantless search and seiz re incident to a lawf l arrest, th s6 )ec. /1. Search incident to lawful arrest . F + person lawf lly arrested may be searched for dangero s weapons or anything which may be sed as proof of the commission of an offense, witho t a search warrant. There is no do bt that the warrantless search incidental to a lawf l arrest a thorizes the arresting officer to ma&e a search pon the person of the person arrested. +s early as /040, the "o rt has r led that ADaEn officer ma&ing an arrest may ta&e from the person arrested any money or property fo nd pon his person which was sed in the commission of the crime or was the fr it of the crime or which might f rnish the prisoner with the means of committing violence or of escaping, or which may be sed as evidence in the trial of the ca se . . . A 10 >ence, in a b y'b st operation cond cted to entrap a dr g'p sher, the law enforcement agents may seize the mar&ed money fo nd on the person of the p sher immediately after the arrest even witho t arrest and search warrants. 16 In the case at bar, the $+R",% agents searched the person of the appellant after arresting him in his ho se b t fo nd nothing. They then searched the entire ho se and, in the &itchen, fo nd and seized a plastic bag hanging in a corner. The warrantless search and seiz re, as an incident to a s spectBs lawf l arrest, may extend beyond the person of the one arrested to incl de the premises or s rro ndings nder his immediate control. 2. ,b3ects in the Aplain viewA of an officer who has the right to be in the position to have that view are s b3ect to seiz re and may be presented as evidence. 2-

PEOPLE vs. FLORENCIO DORIA and VIOLETA GADDAO Fa8$%: ,n ?ecember /00- in %andal yong "ity, the acc sed m t ally helped one another and sold // plastic bags of s spected mari3 ana fr iting tops. #revio sly on $ovember, members of the $orth %etropolitan ?istrict, #hilippine $ational #olice $arcotics "ommand, received information that one KJ nL was engaged in illegal dr g activities in %andal yong "ity. The $arcom agents decided to entrap him in a b y' b st operation. ,n ?ecember -, /00-, )#,C %anlangit arrested KJ nL and the latter led them to his associate, K$enethL. They too& A$enethL and AJ n,A together with the box, its contents and the mar&ed bills and t rned them over to the investigator at head( arters. It was only then that the police learned that AJ nA is !lorencio ?oria while A$enethA is Violeta

:addao. The one bric& of dried mari3 ana leaves recovered from AJ nA pl s the ten bric&s recovered from A$enethBsA ho se were examined at the #$# "rime Laboratory and were fo nd to be dried mari3 ana fr iting tops. They were s bse( ently charged with violation of )ection 2, in relation to )ection 1/ of the ?angero s ?r gs +ct of /0@1.

I%%5": *o$ the warrantless arrest was valid. <Valid, as regards ?oriaJs arrest.= D"8*%*&n: !lorencio ?oria was convicted and Violeta :addao was a( itted. RD: The warrantless arrest of ?oria is lawf l since he was ca ght in the act of committing an offense. + person may be arrested witho t a warrant if he Ahas committed, is act ally committing, or is attempting to commit an offense.A The warrantless search and arrest of :addao is nlawf l. )earch and seiz re may be made witho t a warrant and the evidence obtained therefrom may be admissible in the following instances6 </= search incident to a lawf l arrest9 <1= search of a moving motor vehicle9 <C= search in violation of c stoms laws9 <2= seiz re of evidence in plain view9 <-= when the acc sed himself waives his right against nreasonable searches and seiz res. :addao was not ca ght red'handed d ring the b y'b st operation to give gro nd for her arrest nder )ection - <a= of R le //C. )he was not committing any crime9 in fact, she was going abo t her daily chores when the policemen po nced on her. $either co ld her arrest be 3 stified nder A#ersonal &nowledgeA of facts beca se it m st be based pon Aprobable ca seA which means an Aact al belief or reasonable gro nds of s spicion.A The gro nds of s spicion are reasonable when, in the absence of act al belief of the arresting officers, the s spicion that the person to be arrested is probably g ilty of committing the offense, is based on act al facts, i.e., s pported by circ mstances s fficiently strong in themselves to create the probable ca se of g ilt of the person to be arrested. :addao was arrested solely on the basis of the alleged identification made by her co'acc sed. ?oria did not point to :addao as his associate in the dr g b siness, b t as the person with whom he left the mar&ed bills. This identification does not necessarily lead to the concl sion that :addao conspired with her co'acc sed in p shing dr gs. $arcom agents had no reasonable gro nds to believe that she was engaged in dr g p shing. )ince the warrantless arrest of :addao was illegal, it follows that the search of her person and home and the s bse( ent seiz re of the mar&ed bills and mari3 ana cannot be deemed legal as an incident to her arrest.