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EN BANC
G.R. No. 83988, September 29, 1989
RICARDO C. VALMONTE AND UNION OF LAWYERS
AND ADVOCATES FOR PEOPLE'S RIGHTS (ULAP),
PETITIONERS, VS. GEN. RENATO DE VILLA AND
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION DISTRICT COMMAND,
RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
PADILLA, J.:
This is a petition for prohibition with preliminary injunction and/or temporary
restraining order, seeking the declaration of checkpoints in Valenzuela, Metro Manila or
elsewhere, as unconstitutional and the dismantling and banning of the same or, in the
alternative, to direct the respondents to formulate guidelines in the implementation of
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[3]
Advocates for People's Right (ULAP) vs. Integrated National Police, it was held that
individual petitioners who do not allege that any of their rights were violated are not
qualified to bring the action, as real parties in interest.
The constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizures is a personal
[4]
right invocable only by those whose rights have been infringed, or threatened to be
infringed. What constitutes a reasonable or unreasonable search and seizure in any
particular case is purely a judicial question, determinable from a consideration of the
[5]
circumstances involved.
Petitioner Valmontes general allegation to the effect that he had been stopped and
searched without a search warrant by the military manning the checkpoints, without
more, i.e., without stating the details of the incidents which amount to a violation of his
right against unlawful search and seizure, is not sufficient to enable the Court to
determine whether there was a violation of Valmonte's right against unlawful search
and seizure. Not all searches and seizures are prohibited. Those which are
reasonable are not forbidden. A reasonable search is not to be determined by any
[6]
fixed formula but is to be resolved according to the facts of each case.
Where, for example, the officer merely draws aside the curtain of a vacant vehicle
[7] [8]
which is parked on the public fair grounds, or simply looks into a vehicle, or flashes a
[9]
light therein, these do not constitute unreasonable search.
The setting up of the questioned checkpoints in Valenzuela (and probably in other
areas) may be considered as a security measure to enable the NCRDC to pursue its
mission or establishing effective territorial defense and maintaining peace and order for
the benefit of the public. Checkpoints may also be regarded as measures to thwart
plots to destabilize the government, in the interest of public security. In this connection,
the Court may take judicial notice of the shirt to urban centers and their suburbs of the
insurgency movement, so clearly reflected in the increased killings in cities of police
and military men by NPA "sparrow units," not to mention the abundance of unlicensed
firearms and the alarming rise in lawlessness and violence in such urban centers, not
all of which are reported in media, most likely brought about by deteriorating economic
conditions - which all sum up to what one can rightly consider, at the very least, as
abnormal times. Between the inherent right of the state to protect its existence and
promote public welfare and an individuals right against a warrantless search which is
however reasonably conducted, the former should prevail.
True, the manning of checkpoints by the military is susceptible of abuse by the
men in uniform, in the same manner that all governmental power is susceptible of
abuse. But, at the cost of occasional inconvenience, discomfort and even irritation to
the citizen, the checkpoints during these abnormal times, when conducted within
reasonable limits, are part of the price we pay for an orderly society and a peaceful
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community.
Finally, on 17 July 1988, military and police checkpoints in Metro Manila were
temporarily lifted and a review and refinement of the rules in the conduct of the police
and military manning the checkpoints was ordered by the National Capital Regional
[10]
Command Chief and the Metropolitan Police Director.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED.
Fernan, C.J., Narvasa, Melencio-Herrera, Gutierrez, Jr., Paras, Feliciano, Gancayco, Bidin,
Cortes, Grino-Aquino, Mediladea, and Regalado, JJ., concur.
Cruz, J., see dissent.
Sarmiento, J., I dissent. Please see dissenting opinion.
[1]
Comment of Respondents, Rollo, p. 32
[2]
Article III, Section 2, 1987 Constitution provides:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against
unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable,
and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be
determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant
and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the
persons or things to be seized.
[3]
G.R. No. 80432, Minute Resolution dated 8 March 1988
[4]
52, 79 C.J.S. 810-811
[5]
8, 79 C.J.S. 786
[6]
U.S. v. Robinwitz, N.Y., 70 S.Crt. 430, 339 U.S. 56, 94 L.Ed. 653; Harries v. U.S., Okl., 67 S.Ct. 1098 &
331 U.S. 145, 94 L.Ed. 1871; Martin v. U.S., C.A. Va., 183 F2d 436: 66, 79 C.J.S., 835-836
[7]
Ibid, citing the case of People v. Case, 190 MW 289, 220 Mich, 379, 27 A.L.R. 686
[8]
Ibid, citing the case of State v. Gaina, 97 SE 62, 111 S.C. 174, 3 A.L.R. 1500
[9]
Ibid, citing the case of Rowland v. Commonwealth, 259 SW 33, 202 Rq 92
[10]
Comment, Rollo, pp. 25-26
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DISSENTING OPINION
CRUZ, J.:
I dissent. The sweeping statements in the majority opinion are as dangerous as the
checkpoints it would sustain and fraught with serious threats to individual liberty. The
bland declaration that individual rights must yield to the demands of national security
ignores the fact that the Bill of Rights was intended precisely to limit the authority of the
State even if asserted on the ground of national security. What is worse is that the
searches and seizures are peremptorily pronounced to be reasonable even without
proof of probable cause and much less the required warrant. The improbable excuse is
that they are aimed at "establishing an effective territorial defense, maintaining peace
and order, and providing an atmosphere conducive to the social, economic and political
development of the National Capital Region." For these purposes, every individual may
be stopped and searched at random and at any time simply because he excites the
suspicion, caprice, hostility or malice of the officers manning the checkpoints, on pain of
arrest or worse, even being shot to death, if he resists.
I have no quarrel with a policeman flashing a light inside a parked vehicle on a dark
street as a routine measure of security and curiosity. But the case at bar is different.
Military officers are systematically stationed at strategic checkpoints to actively ferret
out suspected criminals by detaining and searching any individual who in their opinion
might impair the social, economic and political development of the National Capital
Region." It is incredible that we can sustain such a measure. And we are not even
under martial law.
Unless we are vigilant of our rights, we may find ourselves back to the dark era of
the truncheon and the barbed wire, with the Court itself a captive of its own
complaisance and sitting at the death-bed of liberty.
DISSENTING OPINION
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SARMIENTO, J.:
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