By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The recent decision of the Supreme Court (SC) declaring that failure to clearly define the location in search warrants violates the peoples’ right against unlawful searches and seizures brought hope for political prisoners and vulnerable communities, rights groups said.
Kapatid, a support group of families and friends of political prisoners, said in a statement that political prisoners are unjustly detained under questionable search warrants and its irregular execution.
In a decision written by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC acquitted Lucky Enriquez of the crimes of illegal possession of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia due to defective search warrant and irregularities found in the execution of the search. The decision has rendered the evidence against Enriquez inadmissible.
Fides Lim, Kapatid spokesperson said the case of Enriquez, “eerily mirrors what happened to my husband Vicente Ladlad and to spouses Alberto Villamor and Virginia Villamor who have been unjustly detained for over six years now.”
“Kapatid hopes this new Supreme Court decision could pave the way for the dismissal of cases like theirs, where faulty and vague warrants have been used as a tool of persecution of activists, leading to their unjust and prolonged imprisonment,” said Lim.
Lim said that her husband and the Villamor couple are among the remaining victims of the “notorious search warrant factory” of Judge Cecilyn Villavert, whose warrants were repeatedly quashed for lacking specificity and violating constitutional standards.
On November 7, 2018, men stormed into the apartment of the Villamor couple in Novaliches, Quezon City, past midnight. Without identifying themselves, the men forcibly took peace consultant Ladlad and the couple downstairs, ordering them to lie face down on the floor.
Rule 126, Section 18 of the Rules of Court provides that the witnesses of the search must either be the lawful occupant of the premises to be searched or any member of their family. A search where the “witnesses prescribed by law are prevented from actually observing and monitoring the search of the premises, violates both the spirit and letter of the law,” rendering the search unreasonable as stated in the SC decision.
At that time, Ladlad, a consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), had been staying with the Villamor couple following President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to arrest all NDFP peace consultants. The order came after the government unilaterally terminated peace negotiations with the NDFP. Bulatlat followed the case, reporting irregularities even in the post-arrest procedures.
Read: Witness admits ‘irregularities’ in post-arrest procedures of NDFP peace consultant, 2 others
Read: Arrest of NDFP consultant ‘grave violation’ of peace agreement
Kapatid reiterated that the guns and explosives were planted in the second floor of the apartment. The arrest of the Villamor couple was also irregular, Lim said, as their names are not stated in the search warrant.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said that the SC’s reiteration of precision and clarity in search warrants serves as essential safeguards against abuse.
“This decision also brings to mind the vindication of activists Reina Mae Nasino, Ram Carlo Bautista, and Alma Moran, whose illegal possession cases were dismissed when the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s denial of their motions to quash the defective search warrants used against them,” NUPL said.
The three activists – Nasino, Moran, and Bautista were arrested on Nov. 5, 2019 by virtue of a search warrant issued by Villavert. They were slapped with illegal possession of firearms and explosives but asserted that evidence against them were planted by the authorities. In August 2022, the Court of Appeals (CA) voided the search warrant due to irregularities, rendering the evidence presented to the court as inadmissible. They were eventually released on Dec. 22, 2022.
While it is a legal victory, it is important to note that Nasino spent her entire pregnancy inside the Manila City Jail and gave birth to Baby River at the height of the pandemic. Baby River died shortly after being separated from her mother. Nasino was only given six hours to bid farewell to her daughter.
“The inconsistencies in the search warrants, including the wrong address and description of the location, led to the suppression of evidence illegally obtained from them. Their case illustrates the grave consequences of vague and erroneous search warrants and the urgent need to hold the judiciary and law enforcement to the highest standards of constitutional compliance,” NUPL added.
The NUPL hopes that the decision will be robustly implemented, setting a precedent for accountability and a culture of respect for human rights within the justice system. In the same hopes, Kapatid said that political prisoners whose cases have been tainted with flawed procedures can now receive justice, and that “government forces, including judges responsible for the misuse and abuse of search warrants will be held accountable.”
The case of Lucky Enriquez stemmed from a 2017 operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), which implemented a search warrant against him to search for and seize dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia. The Regional Trial Court convicted Enriquez and the CA upheld the decision. The SC reversed the said rulings and declared the search warrant as invalid.
The SC said the “Constitution requires a valid search warrant to particularly describe the place to be searched. This requirement is crucial to prevent enforcing officers from deciding on their own where to search and whom and what to seize.”
The address in the search warrant against Enriquez states, “Informal Settler’s Compound, NIA Road, Barangay Pinyahan, Quezon City.”
The ruling also said that the “search warrant was too broad and essentially a general warrant, which is prohibited by the Constitution. This lack of detail gave the PDEA agents unlimited power to search the entire compound.” (AMU, RVO)
