Karapatan welcomed the latest Supreme Court (SC) ruling affirming the constitutional right against unlawful searches and seizures.
In a decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC ruled that search warrants must particularly describe the place to be searched. Otherwise, the warrant is deemed a general warrant which is prohibited by the constitution. General warrants give the raiding teams unlimited power to decide where to search and who or what to seize, violating the constitutionally guaranteed right to be secure in one’s person, home and belongings.
“This ruling is especially significant since State forces, including unscrupulous judges, have been known to routinely violate this right in issuing and serving search warrants against activists targeted for persecution,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.
On March 7, 2022, police elements searched the house of peasant activist Erlindo “Lino” Baez using a search warrant that only said “Barangay San Vicente, Sto. Tomas, Batangas.” Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 174 Judge Jason Zapanta, who issued the warrant, also did not ask probing questions of the police who applied for the warrant.
On November 5, 2019, police executed a defective search warrant against the Bayan-Manila office in Tondo, Manila issued by Quezon City RTC Branch 84 Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert. The warrant was intended for Barangay 183 but was executed in Barangay 178. The warrant’s subject was only Ram Carlo Bautista, Bayan-Manila campaign director, but the rooms and personal effects of Manila Workers Unity secretariat member Alma Moran and Kadamay-Manila coordinator Reina Mae Nacino were likewise searched.
The search warrants used in these cases have been voided by the courts, and the resulting charges against the respondents dismissed.
“Even if this is not a guarantee that violations by State forces will no longer be committed under the current repressive political atmosphere,” said Palabay, “we nonetheless consider this an important development in our continuing struggle to uphold and protect the people’s civil and political rights.”