On illegal arrests and searches..
There's a lot of tomfoolery going on in everyday life that the Supreme Court gets to decide on. There's humor in the law if you know where to find it.
This case was about a man named Rogelio Mengote who was convicted of illegal posesion of firearms.
The events that lead to his arrest are as follows:
The incident occured shortly before noon after the Western Police District received a telephone call fomr an informer that there were three suspicious-looking persons at a corner in Tondo, Manila. A surveillance team of plainclothesen was dispatched to the place.
They saw two men "looking from side to side," one of whom was holding his abdomen. They approached these persons and identified themselves as policemen, whereupon the two tried to run away but were unabel to escape because the other lawmen had surrounded them. The police arrested and searched them XXX
The rule of law is that an arrest without a warrant is unreasonable an thus, unlawful. But, there are exceptions:
one if which is-
1. When there is probable cause to arrest the suspect. Probable cause means such facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe that a crime has been committed XXX
MERE SUSPICION IS NOT ENOUGH.
At the time of the arrest, the accused was merely "looking from side to side" and "holding his abdomen," according to the arresting officers themselves. The officers argue that they had a probable cause to arrest Mengote because of his suspicious acts.
The question is, What offense? What offense could possibly have been suggested by a person "looking form side to side" and "holding his abdomen" and in a place not exactly forsaken?
The Supreme Court said:
These are certainly not sinister acts. And the setting of the arrest made them less so, if at all. It might have been different if Mengote had been apprehended at an ungodly hour and in a place where he had no reason to be. But he was arrested at 11:30 in the morning and in a crowded street shortly after alighting from a passenger jeep with his companion. He was not skulking in the shadows but walking in the clear light of day. There was nothing clandestine about his being on that street at that busy hour in the blaze of the noonday sun.
On the other hand, there could have been a number of reasons, all of them innocent, why his eyes were darting from side to side and he was holding his abdomen.
It would be a sad day, indeed, if any person could be summarily arrested and searched just because he is holding his abdomen, even if it be possibly because of stomach-ache.This simply cannot be done in a free society.
Lesson: hindi porque natatae ka, eh pwede ka nang hulihin.
Source: People vs. Mengote 210 SCRA 174