WARRANTLESS SEARCHES AND SEIZURES WHEN VALID

1. SEARCH INCIDENTAL TO LAWFUL ARREST

A person arrested may be searched for dangerous weapons or anything that
proves the commission of the offense. It follows that the search can only be
made within the area of control of the arrested person, and within the time of
the arrest.
In this instance, the law requires that there must first be a lawful arrest before
a search can be made - the process cannot be reversed. (Malacat vs. CA,
283 SCRA 159 [1997])
2. PLAIN VIEW DOCTRINE
The warrantless seach and seizure, as an incident to a suspect's lawful
arrest, may extend beyond the person of the one arrested to include the
premises or surroundings under his immediate control. Objects falling in plain
view of an officer who has a right to have that view are subject to seizure
even without a search warrant and may be introduced in evidence, provided
the following requisites concur:
1. the law enforcer in search of the evidence has a prior valid intrusion or is
in a position from which he can view a particular area;
2. the discovery of the evidence in plain view is inadvertent;
3. the evidence must be immediately apparent to the officer that the same
may be evidence of a crime, contraband, or otherwise subject to seizure.
(People vs. Doria, 301 SCRA 668 [1999])
3. SEARCH OF MOVING VEHICLES
Peace officers may lawfully conduct searches of moving vehicles without
need of a warrant, it not being practicable to secure a judicial warrant before
searching a vehicle, since such vehicle can be quickly moved out of the
locality of jurisdiction in which the warrant may be sought.
However, in carrying out warrantless searches of moving vehicles, peace
officers are limited to routine checks, that is, the vehicles are neither really
searched nor their occupants subjected to physical or body searches, the
examination of the vehicles being limited to visual inspection. (People vs.
Barros, 231 SCRA 557 [1994])
4. CUSTOM SEARCHES
The Tariff and Customs Code does not require a search warrant for purposes
of enforcing customs and tariff laws. Under Sec. 2203 thereof, police
authorities may enter, pass through or search any land, inclosure, warehouse,
store or building not being a dwelling house and also, to inspect, search and
examine any vehicle, beast or person suspected of holding or conveying any
dutiable or prohibitted article introduced into the Philippines contrary to law,
without mentioning the need of a search warrant and in said cases. (Papa vs.
Mago, 22 SCRA 857 [1968])
5. STOP AND FRISK EXCEPTION

Where a police officer observes an unusual conduct which leads him

reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be
afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and
presently dangerous, where in the course of investigating this behavior he
identified himself as a policeman and make reasonable inquiries, and where
nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable
fear for his own or other's safety, he is entitled for the protection of himself or
others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of
such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to
assault him. (Malacat vs. CA, 283 SCRA 159 [1997])
6. EXIGENT AND EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCES
7. CONSENTED SEARCHES
To constitute a waiver, it must appear first that the right exists; second, that
the person involved had knowledge, actual or constructive, of the existence of
such a right; and lastly, that said person had an actual intention to relinquish
the right. (People vs. Burgos, 144 SCRA 1 [1986])
8. AIRPORT SEARCHES
With increased concern over airplane highjacking and terrorism has come
increased security at the nation's airports. Passengers attempting to board
an aircraft routinely pass through metal detectors; their carry-on baggage as
well as checked luggage are routinely subjected to x-ray scans. Should these
procedures suggest the presence of suspicious objects, physical searches
are conducted to determine what the objects are. x x x If any prohibited
materials or substances are found, such would be subject to seizure. (People
vs. Johnson, 348 SCRA 526 [2000])
9. MISCELLANEOUS SEARCHES AND SEIZURES
10. ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER SEARCHES
ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT; WHEN LAWFUL
"Sec. 5. Arrest without warrant; when lawful. -- A peace officer or a private
person may, without a warrant, arrest a person:
(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is
actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
(b) When an offense has in fact just been committed, and he has probable
cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances
that the person to be arrested has committed it; and
(c) when the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a
penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or
temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while
being transferred from one confinement to another.

In cases falling under paragraphs (a) and (b) hereof, the person arrested
without a warrant shall be forthwith delivered to the nearest police station or
jail, and he shall be proceeded against in accordance with Sec. 7 of Rule
112."
1. IN FLAGRANTE DELICTO ARREST
When a police officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a
person when, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is
actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense. The arresting
officer, therefore, must have personal knowledge of such fact or, as a recent
case law adverts to, personal knowledge of facts or circumstances
convincingly indicative or constitutive of probable cause.
Probable cause means an actual belief or reasonable grounds of suspicision.
The grounds of suspicion are reasonable when, in the absence of actual
belief of the arresting officers, the suspicion that the person to be arrested is
probably guilty of committing the offense, is based on actual facts, i.e.,
supported by circumstances sufficiently strong in themselves to create the
probable cause of guilt of the person to be arrested. A reasonable suspicion
therefore must be founded on probable cause, coupled with good faith on the
party of the peace officers making the arrest.
To constitute a valid in flagrante delicto arrest, two requisites must concur:
1. the person to be arrested must execute an overt act indicating that he has
just committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit a crime; and
2) such overt act is done in the presence or within the view of the arresting
officer. (People vs. Molina, 352 SCRA 174 [2001])
2. HOT PURSUIT ARREST
Here, two elements must concur prior to the arrest:
1. an offense has in fact just been committed;
2. the arresting officer has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the
person to be arrested xxx committed [the offense].
In effecting this type of arrest, it is not enough that there is reasonable ground
to believe that the person has committed a crime. A crime must in fact or
actually have been committed first. xxx The fact of the commission of the
offense must be undisputed.
Thus, while the law enforcers may not actually witness the execution of acts
constituting the offense, they must have direct knowledge or view of the crime
right after its commission. They should know for a fact that a crime was
committed. And they must also perceive acts exhibited by the person to be
arrested, indicating that he perpetrated the crime. Again, mere intelligence
information that the suspect committed the crime will not suffice.
In several cases wherein third persons gave law enforcers information that
certain individuals or groups were engaged in some felonious activities, or
where the arresting officer received an intelligence report regarding a certain
crime, such relayed information was not deemed equivalent to personal

knowledge of the lawmen.

HANDOUT NO. 5
RIGHT TO PRIVACY, LIBERTY, ABODE & TRAVEL,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
Sec. 3. The privacy of communications and correspondence shall be
inviolable, except upon lawful order of the Court or when public safety or
order requires otherwise as prescribed by law. Any evidence obtained in
violation of this or the preceding section,shall be inadmissible for any purpose
in any proceeding.
I.

ESSENCE OF PRIVACY - "The right to be let alone."

II. ZONES OF PRIVACY

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The Civil Code provides that, "every person shall respect the dignity,
personality, privacy and peace of mind of his neighbors and other persons
xxx," and punishes as actionable torts several acts by a person of meddling
and prying into the privacy of another. It also holds a public officer or
employee or any private individual liable for damages for any violation of the
rights and liberties of another person, and recognizes the privacy of letters
and other private communications.
The Revised Penal Code makes a crime the violation of secrets by an officer,
the revelation of trade and industrial secrets, and trespass to dwelling.
Invasion of privacy is an offense in special laws like the Anti-Wiretapping Law
(RA 4200), the Secrecy of Bank Deposits (RA 1405) and the Intellectual
Property Code (RA 8293).
The Rules of Court on privileged communication likewise recognize the
privacy of certain informations (Sec. 24, Rule 130 [c], Revised Rules on
Evidence).

ANTI-WIRETAPPING ACT (R.A. 4200)

1. UNLAWFUL ACTS - Any person who, without authority from all the parties to
the private communication or spoken word, does any of the following acts:
a. tap any wire or cable;
b. secretly overhear or intercept such communication or spoken word by
using any other device or arrangement;
c. record such private communication or spoken word by using a device
commonly known as dictaphone or dictagraph or detectaphone or walkietalkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise described.
2. Any person, whether participant or not in the above penalized acts who:
a. knowingly