case no.

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Laud vs People
G.R. No. 199032 | November 19, 2014
Article III

FACTS:
On July 10, 2009, the Philippine National Police, through Police Senior Superintendent
Roberto B. Fajardo, applied with the Regional Trial Court of Manila for a warrant to search
three caves located inside the Laud Compound in Davao City, where the alleged remains of the
victims executed by the so-called "Davao Death Squad" may be found. In support of the
application, Ernesto Avasola testified that he personally witnessed the killing of six persons in
December 2005, and was part of the group that buried the victims. Judge William Simon P.
Peralta found probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant.
On July 20, 2009, petitioner Laud filed an Urgent Motion to Quash and to Suppress
Illegally Seized Evidence based on the following grounds: (a) Judge Peralta had no authority to
act on the application for a search warrant since he had been automatically divested of his
position as Vice Executive Judge when several administrative penalties were imposed against
him by the Court; (b) the Manila-RTC had no jurisdiction to issue the search which was to be
enforced in Davao City; (c) the human remains sought to be seized are not a proper subject of a
search warrant; (d) the police officers are mandated to follow the prescribed procedure for
exhumation of human remains; (e) the search warrant was issued despite lack of probable cause;
(f) the rule against forum shopping was violated; and (g) there was a violation of the rule
requiring one specific offense and the proper specification of the place to be searched and the
articles to be seized.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the requirements of probable cause and particular description were
complied with and the one-specific-offense rule under Section 4, Rule 126 of the Rules of Court
was violated

RULING + RATIO:
The Court ruled that existence of probable cause for the issuance the search warrant is
evident from the first-hand account of Avasola who testified that he personally witnessed the
commission of the afore-stated crime and was part of the group that buried the victims. The
facts and circumstances established from the testimony of Avasola, who was personally
examined by Judge Peralta, sufficiently show that more likely than not the crime of murder of
six persons had happened and that the human remains in connection with the same are in the
place sought to be searched.
In light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the quantum of proof to establish the
existence of probable cause had been met. That a "considerable length of time" attended the
search warrant’s application from the crime’s commission does not, by and of itself, negate the
veracity of the applicant’s claims or the testimony of the witness presented.

Prepared by: Cheza Marie D. Biliran !1