You are on page 1of 7

PEOPLE v BURGOS 144 SCRA 1 GUTIERREZ; Sept.

4, 1986 NATURE Appeal from RTC decision convicting Ruben Burgos of the crime of Illegal Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of Subversion FACTS - Prosecution version: Upon obtaining information from one Cesar Masamlok, who personally and voluntarily surrendered to the Davao del Sur police HQ stating that accused Ruben Burgos forcibly recruited him to join the NPA with the use of a firearm against his life, a team was dispatched the following day to arrest Burgos. Through the help of Pedro Burgos, the brother of accused, the team was able to locate Ruben Burgos, who was plowing his field at the time. - When asked about the firearm, the accused denied possession of it, but after questioning the accuseds wife, the police were able to locate and retrieve the said firearm, a .38 caliber S & W, buried in the ground below their house. The police, after accused pointed them to the location, were also able to retrieve alleged subversive documents (a notebook and a pamphlet) hidden underground a few meters away from the house. - To prove accuseds subversive activities, Masamlok testified that accused came to his house and told him to join the NPA or his family will be killed along with him. The threat to his life and family forced Masamlok to join the NPA. He later attended an NPA seminar where Burgos, the first speaker, said very distinctly that he is an NPA together with his companions, to assure the unity of the civilian. That he encouraged the group to overthrow the government. To prove illegal possession, a person in charge of firearms and explosives of the PC HQ in Davao testified that accused was not among the list of firearm holders - On the other hand, accused-appellants claims that he was taken to the PC barracks and when he denied ownership of the gun, he was beaten, tortured, mauled and subjected to physical agony. He was forced to admit possession or ownership of the gun. 2 witnesses as well as Rubens wife Urbana, were presented by the defense in support of the accuseds denial of the charge against him. Urbana claimed that it was Masamlok who left the firearm there. - The RTC after considering the evidences presented by both prosecution and defense convicted accused Ruben Burgos guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of illegal possession of firearms in furtherance of subversion. The RTC justified the warrantless arrest as falling under one of the circumstances when arrests may be validly made without a warrant, under Rule 113 Sec.6 of the Rules of Court. It stated that even if there was no warrant for the arrest of Burgos, the fact that the authorities received an urgent report of accused's involvement in subversive activities from a reliable source (report of Cesar Masamlok) the circumstances of his arrest, even without judicial warrant, is lawfully within the ambit of Sec. 6(a) of Rule 113 and applicable jurisprudence on the matter. If the arrest is valid, the consequent search and seizure of the firearm and the alleged subversive documents would become an incident to a lawful arrest as provided by Rule 126, Sec. 12. A person charged with an offense may be searched for dangerous weapons or anything which may be used as proof of the commission of the offense. ISSUES 1. WON the arrest was lawful and WON the search of his house and the subsequent confiscation of a firearm and documents conducted in a lawful manner. 2. WON there is enough evidence to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. HELD 1. NO Art.III Sec.2 of the Constitution safeguards against wanton and unreasonable invasion of the privacy and liberty of a citizen as to his person, papers and effects. In this case, the arrest was made without warrant and since it does not fall within the exceptions of arrests that can be made without a warrant, it is unlawful and therefore, the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine applies. Reasoning Under Sec.6 (a) of Rule 113, the officer arresting a person who has just committed, is committing, or is about to commit an offense must have personal knowledge of that fact. The offense must also be committed in his presence or within his view. There is no such personal knowledge in this case. Whatever knowledge was possessed by the arresting officers, it came in its entirety from the information furnished by Cesar Masamlok. The location of the firearm was given by Burgos wife. At the time of arrest, Burgos was not in actual possession of any firearm or subversive document. Neither was he committing any act which could be described as subversive. He was, in fact, plowing his field at the time. - The SolGen believes that the arrest may still be considered lawful under Sec.6(b) using the test of

reasonableness. The SolGen submits that the info given by Masamlok was sufficient to induce a reasonable ground that a crime has been committed and that the accused is probably guilty thereof. In arrests without a warrant under Sec.6(b), however, it is not enough that there is reasonable ground to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a crime. A crime must in fact or actually have been committed first. That a crime has actually been committed is an essential precondition. It is not enough to suspect that a crime may have been committed. The fact of the commission of the offense must be undisputed. The test of reasonable ground applies only to the identity of the perpetrator. In this case, the accused was arrested on the sole basis of Masamlok's verbal report. Masamlok led the authorities to suspect that the accused had committed a crime. They were still fishing for evidence of a crime not yet ascertained. The subsequent recovery of the subject firearm on the basis of information from the lips of a frightened wife cannot make the arrest lawful. If an arrest without warrant is unlawful at the moment it is made, generally nothing that happened or is discovered afterwards can make it lawful. The fruit of a poisoned tree is necessarily also tainted. More important, We find no compelling reason for the haste with which the arresting officers sought to arrest the accused. We fail to see why they failed to first go through the process of obtaining a warrant of arrest, if indeed they had reasonable ground to believe that the accused had truly committed a crime. There is no showing that there was a real apprehension that the accused was on the verge of flight or escape. Likewise, there is no showing that the whereabouts of the accused were unknown. - The basis for the action taken by the arresting officer was the verbal report made by Masamlok who was not required to subscribe his allegations under oath. There was no compulsion for him to state truthfully his charges under pain of criminal prosecution. Consequently, the need to go through the process of securing a search warrant and a warrant of arrest becomes even more clear. The arrest of the accused while he was plowing his field is illegal. The arrest being unlawful, the search and seizure which transpired afterwards could not likewise be deemed legal as being mere incidents to a valid arrest. Neither can it be presumed that there was a waiver, or that consent was given by the accused to be searched simply because he failed to object. To constitute a waiver, it must appear first that the right exists; secondly, 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. The fact that the accused failed to object to the entry into his house does not amount to a permission to make a search therein. 2. NO. Since the extra-judicial confession, the firearm, and the alleged subversive documents are inadmissible in evidence, the only remaining proof to sustain the charge is the testimony of Masamlok, which is inadequate to convict Burgos beyond reasonable doubt. Reasoning Although it is true that the trial court found Masamloks testimony credible and convincing, the SC is not necessarily bound by the credibility which the trial court attaches to a particular witness. As stated in People v Cabrera (100 SCRA 424): When it comes to question of credibility the findings of the trial court are entitled to great respect upon appeal for the obvious reason that it was able to observe the demeanor, actuations and deportment of the witnesses during the trial. But We have also said that this rule is not absolute for otherwise there would be no reversals of convictions upon appeal. We must reject the findings of the trial court where the record discloses circumstances of weight and substance which were not properly appreciated by the trial court. In the instant case, Masamloks testimony was totally uncorroborated. Considering that Masamlok surrendered to the military, certainly his fate depended on how eagerly he cooperated with the authorities. Otherwise, he would also be charged with subversion. Masamlok may be considered as an interested witness. His testimony cannot be said to be free from the opportunity and temptation to be exaggerated and even fabricated for it was intended to secure his freedom. Moreover, despite the fact that there were other persons present during the alleged NPA seminar who could have corroborated Masamlok's testimony that the accused used the gun in furtherance of subversive activities or actually engaged in subversive acts, the prosecution never presented any other witness. Dispositive Judgment of conviction is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Accused Burgos is ACQUITTED on grounds of reasonable doubt.

Although judges of inferior courts are authorized to conduct preliminary investigation of all crimes within their jurisdiction, the task is essentially an executive function. As far back as Collector of Customs v. Villaluz, we already held that: [w]hile we sustain the power of the x x x courts to conduct preliminary examination, pursuant to Our Constitutional power of administrative supervision over all courts, as a matter of policy, we enjoin x x x judge[s] x x x to concentrate on hearing and deciding before their courts. x x x [Judges] should not encumber themselves with the preliminary examination and investigation of criminal complaints, which they should refer to the municipal judge or provincial or city fiscal, who in turn can utilize the assistance of the state prosecutor to

conduct such preliminary examination and investigation.

Republic of the PhilippinesSUPREME COURTManila FIRST DIVISION G.R. No. L-34285 March 8, 1989 B. JOSE CASTILLO, petitioner, vs.HON. ONOFRE A. VILLALUZ, Judge, Circuit Criminal Court, 7th Judicial District, RENATO MONTES and JOSE DE SILVA, respondents. Fidel Manalo and Juan C. Gatmaitan for petitioner. NARVASA, J.: Judges of Regional Trial Courts (formerly Courts of First Instance) no longer have authority to conduct preliminary investigations. That authority, at one time reposed in them under Sections 13, 14 and 16, Rule 112 of the Rules of Court of 1964, 1 was removed from them by the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, effective on January 1, 1985, 2 which deleted all provisions granting that power to said Judges. We had occasion to point this out in Salta v. Court of Appeals, 143 SCRA 228, and to stress as well certain other basic propositions, namely: (1) that the conduct of a preliminary investigation is "not a judicial function ... (but) part of the prosecution's job, a function of the executive," (2) that wherever "there are enough fiscals or prosecutors to conduct preliminary investigations, courts are counseled to leave this job which is essentially executive to them," and the fact "that a certain power is granted does not necessarily mean that it should be indiscriminately exercised." The 1988 Amendments to the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, declared effective on October 1, 1988 3 did not restore that authority to Judges of Regional Trial Courts; said amendments did not in fact deal at all with the officers or courts having authority to conduct preliminary investigations. This is not to say, however, that somewhere along the line RTC Judges also lost the power to make a preliminary examination for the purpose of determining whether probable cause exists to justify the issuance of a warrant of arrest (or search warrant). Such a power indeed, it is as much a duty as it is a power has been and remains vested in every judge by the provision in the Bill of Rights in the 1935, the 1973 and the present (1987) Constitutions securing the people against unreasonable searches and seizures, 4 thereby placing it beyond the competence of mere Court rule or statute to revoke. The distinction must, therefore, be made clear while an RTC Judge may no longer conduct preliminary investigations to ascertain whether there is sufficient ground for the filing of a criminal complaint or information, 5 he retains the authority, when such a pleading is filed with his court, to determine whether there is probable cause justifying the issuance of a warrant of arrest. 6 It might be added that this distinction accords, rather than conflicts, with the rationale of Salta because both law and rule, in restricting to judges the authority to order arrest, recognize that function to be judicial in nature. 7 The proceedings at bar have reference to the law in 1971, at which time a preliminary investigation (now in question) was conducted by respondent Judge of the Circuit Criminal Court. 8 He did so with respect to a complaint dated July 9, 1971 (and Joint Affidavit dated July 21, 1971) filed directly with his Court by Renato Montes and Jose de Silva against Manuel Laconico The complaint charged the latter with estafa in the amount of P1,000.00. The investigation culminated in the issuance by respondent Judge of an Order on July 28, 1971 9 containing the following dispositive portion: WHEREFORE, there being a preliminary examination and investigation conducted by the Court and considering that the respondent was given a chance to defend himself, let a warrant be issued for his apprehension. The respondent is hereby ordered to post a bond in the amount of P3,000.00 for his provisional release. Pursuant to Section 6, Rule 135 of the New Rules of Court, in relation to Section 13, Rule 112 thereto, the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal is hereby ordered to file the corresponding information against the respondent before the court of competent jurisdiction within TWENTY-FOUR (24) hours from receipt hereof. SO ORDERED.

Notice of the Order was served on the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal, herein petitioner, on July 29, 1971, but he failed to file the information required within the time appointed, or at any time thereafter. Consequently, on October 1, 1971, he was directed by His Honor to explain within ten (10) days "why he should not be punished for contempt of court for delaying the speedy administration of justice for disobeying a lawful order of the Court." 10 The Fiscal filed a motion for reconsideration, 11 but this was denied, by Order dated October 19, 1971. 12 Hence, this petition for certiorari and prohibition was presented by petitioner Fiscal, seeking annulment of the aforesaid orders. Petitioner submits that1) His Honor had no jurisdiction to conduct preliminary investigations, because the law creating Circuit Criminal Courts, R.A. No. 5179, conferred on said courts only the power to try and decide, concurrently with the regular courts of first instance, certain specific criminal cases, but not the power to conduct preliminary investigations; 2) a preliminary investigation is not a part of a trial or the rendition of a decision; it is a function which may very well be left to the public prosecutors as its discharge would unduly burden judges; 3) even assuming power in the respondent to conduct preliminary investigations, the power does not include the compulsion of a provincial fiscal, under sanction of contempt, to file an information in court without conducting his own preliminary investigation; the conduct thereof is a primary duty of his; as the official charged with the responsibility of instituting and prosecuting criminal cases in court, the determination of the sufficiency of the evidence to warrant such institution and prosecution is made to rest by law upon his sound discretion. During the time that it existed, 13 the Circuit Criminal Court had the same power as a Court of First Instance to conduct preliminary investigations of offenses cognizable by it. So we have ruled in two (2) cases: Collector of Customs v. Villaluz, 71 SCRA 356, 14 and de Guzman v. Villaluz, 117 SCRA 182. 15 Now, His Honor was evidently of the view that his determination of the existence of probable cause, founded on the results of his own preliminary investigation, was the last word on the matter, and the Provincial Fiscal had no option except to draw up and file the information on the basis of said preliminary investigation. This is why respondent Judge gave petitioner Fiscal only twenty-four (24) hours "to file the corresponding information." The Judge is mistaken. It is the fiscal who is given by law "direction and control" of all criminal actions. 16 It is he who initiates all prosecutions in the name of the People of the Philippines, by information or complaint, against all persons who appear to be responsible for the offense involved. 17 It is he (or other public prosecutor), therefore, who is primarily responsible for ascertaining through a preliminary inquiry or proceeding "whether there is reasonable ground to believe that an offense has been committed and the accused is probably guilty thereof." 18 That function, to repeat, is not judicial but executive. When a preliminary investigation is conducted by a judge, the judge performs a non-judicial function, as an exception to his usual judicial duties. The assignment of that function to judges of inferior courts and to a very limited extent to courts of first instance was dictated by "necessity and practical considerations," and the consequent policy, as we said in Salta, was that "wherever there were enough fiscals or prosecutors to conduct preliminary investigations, courts were to leave that job which is essentially executive to them." It follows that the conclusions derived by a judge from his own investigation cannot be superior to and conclusively binding on the fiscal or public prosecutor, in whom that function is principally and more logically lodged. These considerations argue against giving the term "refer" used in Section 13 of the former Rule 112-which provided that if the judge, after conducting a preliminary investigation finds probable cause against a defendant," ... be shall issue a warrant for his arrest, and thereafter refer the case to the fiscal for the filing of the corresponding information"-the effect of imposing upon the fiscal the mandatory duty to file an information merely upon such reference being made; and this, even without regard to the fact that in its ordinary sense, the word "refer" conveys no such import nor connotes any compulsion. And it was no doubt on account of these obvious considerations that, as Salta further observes, Section 37 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 reiterated" the removal from Judges of Metropolitan Trial Courts in the National Capital Region of the authority to conduct preliminary investigations" and "Section 2 of Rule 112 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure no longer authorizes Regional Trial Judges to conduct preliminary investigations." It may not be amiss to point out, in this connection, that the 1988 Amendments to the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure (Sec. 5, Rule 112) explicitly provide inter alia that "(s)hould the provincial or city fiscal disagree with the findings of the investigating judge on the existence of probable cause, the fiscal's ruling shall prevail." 19 Be it noted, however, that once the fiscal files an information with the Court and the Court thereby acquires jurisdiction over the case, the case may not be dismissed at the fiscal's instance except only by consent of the Court, which may grant or withhold it in its discretion. 20 It was therefore grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction on His Honor's part to seek to foreclose the petitioner fiscal's prerogative to conduct his own preliminary investigation to determine for himself the existence or nonexistence of probable cause, and to require him to show cause for not filing the information within twenty-four (24) hours, on the sole basis of the Judge's conclusions. The fiscal was not bound to a blind, uncritical and unavoidable acceptance of those

conclusions. He had the duty to satisfy himself of the existence of probable cause, and could not shirk or be made to evade it by an unreasoning and indiscriminate reliance on the judge's investigation. Since the controversy at bar arose, many years have passed during which Circuit Criminal Courts were abolished, as already stated, 21 the petitioner Fiscal's public service was ended by compulsory retirement, and the respondent's stint as Judge, ended by his promotion to a higher court. It is time, too, that this case is ended. WHEREFORE, the challenged Orders are hereby annulled and set aside. This resolution is immediately executory. No costs. Gancayco, Grio-Aquino and Medialdea, JJ., concur. Separate Opinions CRUZ, J., concurring: I concur as long it is understood that the fiscal prevails over the judge only in the determination of the existence of a prima facie case to justify the filing of a complaint or information. This task is concededly executive. But the determination of probable cause to justify the issuance of a search warrant or a warrant of arrest is the constitutional prerogative of the judge and may not be withdrawn from him or even only limited by statute or the Rules of Court. This task is undoubtedly judicial. The findings of the fiscal in the preliminary investigation do not control or foreclose the exercise of the power conferred personally on the judge under Section 2 of the Bill of Rights. That power is his alone. Separate Opinions CRUZ, J., concurring: I concur as long it is understood that the fiscal prevails over the judge only in the determination of the existence of a prima facie case to justify the filing of a complaint or information. This task is concededly executive. But the determination of probable cause to justify the issuance of a search warrant or a warrant of arrest is the constitutional prerogative of the judge and may not be withdrawn from him or even only limited by statute or the Rules of Court. This task is undoubtedly judicial. The findings of the fiscal in the preliminary investigation do not control or foreclose the exercise of the power conferred personally on the judge under Section 2 of the Bill of Rights. That power is his alone.

[G.R. No. 81567. October 3, 1991.] IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS OF ROBERTO UMIL, ROLANDO DURAL and RENATO VILLANUEVA, MANOLITA O. UMIL and NICANOR P. DURAL, FELICITAS V. SESE, petitioners, vs. FIDEL V. RAMOS, MAJ. GEN. RENATO DE VILLA, BRIG. GEN. RAMON MONTANO, BRIG. GEN. ALEXANDER AGUIRRE, respondents. RESOLUTION FACTS Before the Court are separate motions filed by the petitioners in the above-entitled petitions, seeking reconsideration of the Court's decision promulgated on 9 July 1990 (the decision, for brevity) which dismissed the petitions, with the following dispositive part: "WHEREFORE, the petitions are hereby DISMISSED, except that in G.R. No. 85727 (Espiritu vs. Lim), the bail bond for petitioner's provisional liberty is hereby ordered reduced from P60,000.00 to P10,000.00. No costs." The Court avails of this opportunity to clarify its ruling and begins with the statement that the decision did not rule as many misunderstood it to do that mere suspicion that one is a Communist Party or New People's Army member is a valid ground for his arrest without warrant. In G.R. No. 81567 (Umil case), military agents, on 1 February 1988, were dispatched to the St. Agnes Hospital, Roosevelt Avenue, Quezon City, to verify a confidential information which was received by their office, about a "sparrow man" (NPA member) who had been admitted to the said hospital with a gunshot wound; that the information further disclosed that the wounded man in the said hospital was among the five (5) male "sparrows" who murdered two (2) Capcom mobile patrols the day before, or on 31 January 1988 at about 12:00 o'clock noon, before a road hump along Macanining St., Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City; that based on the same information, the wounded man's name was listed by the hospital management as "Ronnie Javellon," twenty-two (22) years old of Block 10, Lot 4, South City Homes, Bian, Laguna. ISSUE That the assailed decision, in upholding the validity of the questioned arrests made without warrant, and in relying on the provisions of the Rules of Court, particularly Section 5 of Rule 113 (Arrest), disregards the fact that such arrests violated the constitutional rights of the persons arrested.

HELD: We find no merit in the motions for reconsideration. There can be no dispute that, as a general rule, no peace officer or person has the power or authority to arrest anyone without a warrant of arrest, except in those cases expressly authorized by law. The law expressly allowing arrests without warrant is found in Section 5, Rule 113 of the Rules of Court which states the grounds upon which a valid arrest, without warrant, can be conducted. In the present cases, the focus is understandably on Section 5, paragraphs (a) and (b) of the said Rule 113, which read: "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 personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it; and The Court's decision of 9 July 1990 rules that the arrest of Rolando Dural (G.R. No. 81567) without warrant is justified as it can be said that, within the contemplation of Section 5(a), Rule 113, he (Dural) was committing an offense, when arrested, because Dural was arrested for being a member of the New People's Army, an outlawed organization, where membership is penalized, and for subversion which, like rebellion is, under the doctrine of Garcia vs. Enrile, a continuing offense, thus: "The crimes of insurrection or rebellion, subversion, conspiracy or proposal to commit such crimes, and other crimes and offenses committed in the furtherance (sic) on the occasion thereof, or incident thereto, or in connection therewith under Presidential Proclamation No. 2045, are all in the nature of continuing offenses which set them apart from the common offenses, aside from their essentially involving a massive conspiracy of nationwide magnitude..." Viewed from another but related perspective, it may also be said, under the facts of the Umil case, that the arrest of Dural falls under Section 5, paragraph (b), Rule 113 of the Rules of Court, which requires two (2) conditions for a valid arrest without warrant: first, that the person to be arrested has just committed an offense, and second, that the arresting peace officer or private person has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested is the one who committed the offense. Section 5(b), Rule 113, it will be noted, refers to arrests without warrant, based on "personal knowledge of facts" acquired by the arresting officer or private person. It has been ruled that "personal knowledge of facts," in arrests without warrant must be based upon probable cause, which means an actual belief or reasonable grounds of suspicion. 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 part of the peace officers making the arrest. These requisites were complied with in the Umil case and in the other cases at bar. The actual facts supported by circumstances are: first the day before, or on 31 January 1988, two (2) CAPCOM soldiers were actually killed in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City by five (5) "sparrows" including Dural; second a wounded person listed in the hospital records as "Ronnie Javellon" was actually then being treated in St. Agnes Hospital for a gunshot wound; third as the records of this case disclosed later, "Ronnie Javellon" and his address entered in the hospital records were fictitious and the wounded man was in reality Rolando Dural. In fine, the confidential information received by the arresting officers merited their immediate attention and action and, in fact, it was found to be true. Even the petitioners in their motion for reconsideration, believe that the confidential information of the arresting officers to the effect that Dural was then being treated in St. Agnes Hospital was actually received from the attending doctor and hospital management in compliance with the directives of the law, and, therefore, came from reliable sources. As to the condition that "probable cause" must also be coupled with acts done in good faith by the officers who make the arrest, the Court notes that the peace officers who arrested Dural are deemed to have conducted the same in good faith, considering that law enforcers are presumed to regularly perform their official duties. The records show that the arresting officers did not appear to have been ill-motivated in arresting Dural. It is, therefore clear that the arrest, without warrant, of Dural was made in compliance with the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of Section 5, Rule 113. This Resolution ends as it began, reiterating that mere suspicion of being a Communist Party member or a subversive is absolutely not a ground for the arrest without warrant of the suspect. The Court predicated the validity of the questioned arrests without warrant in these petitions, not on mere unsubstantiated suspicion, but on compliance with the conditions set forth in

Section 5, Rule 113, Rules of Court, a long existing law, and which, for stress, are probable cause and good faith of the arresting peace officers, and, further, on the basis of, as the records show, the actual facts and circumstances supporting the arrests. ACCORDINGLY, the motions for reconsideration of the decision dated 9 July 1990, are DENIED. This denial is FINAL. SO ORDERED.

You might also like