EN
BANC
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RE: REQUEST OF |
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A.M. No. 08-4-4-SC Present: PUNO, C.J., QUISUMBING, YNARES-SANTIAGO,
CARPIO,
CARPIO
MORALES, CHICO-NAZARIO,
VELASCO,
JR., NACHURA,
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, BRION, PERALTA, and BERSAMIN, JJ. Promulgated: July
7, 2009 |
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CHICO-NAZARIO, J.:
Before Us are two communications;
the first letter,[1] dated 19
March 2008, was sent by then Police Director General Avelino I. Razon, Jr.
(P/Dir. Gen. Razon), Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP); and the second
one,[2]
dated 25 November 2008, from Police Director General Jesus A. Verzosa (P/Dir.
Gen. Verzosa), the succeeding Chief of the PNP.
Both letters were addressed to then Court Administrator Zenaida N.
Elepaño, and involved the procedural requirement that applications for search
warrant filed before Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) of
The
[R]ecently that the concerned
Executive Regional Trial Court Judges have required that the applications for
search warrants in accordance with the [Section 12, Chapter V of the Guidelines
on the Selection and Appointment of Executive Judges] need to be endorsed
personally by the undersigned otherwise the application would not be acted
upon.
The undersigned (P/Dir. Gen. Razon), due to the numerous
demands of his office, may not be able to act expeditiously on the required
endorsements of application for search warrant. Any unnecessary delay in the
application, especially on cases which require immediate search and seizure of
any contraband, would not serve the purpose for which the search warrant was
applied for and render the ends of justice nugatory.[3]
In
connection thereto, P/Dir. Gen. Razon requested that –
[He] be allowed to delegate the
endorsement of the application for search warrant to the Director of the
Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (PDIR JEFFERSON P.
SORIANO), in view of his inherent investigative functions and as Commander of
the Task Force USIG and Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force.[4]
Acting upon the foregoing letter,
Court Administrator Elepano recommended to Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno,
through a Memorandum dated 28 March 2008, that leave be granted allowing P/Dir.
Gen. Razon to delegate the authority to endorse the applications for search
warrant, based on the following considerations –
Being the
chief of the PNP, General Razon oversees the operations of the entire police
force all over the
Court Administrator Elepano’s
above-quoted recommendation, however, carried a qualification, i.e., that “the matter of whether this
requirement may be relaxed such that the endorsement of applications for search
warrant may be delegated to a subordinate officer should be resolved insofar as
it applies only to General Razon;” preceding from the assumption that “the
concern of General Razon [was] peculiar to him alone since the heads of the other
agencies have no problem in complying with the requirement in question.”
In a Resolution dated
The Court Resolved, upon the recommendation of Court
Administrator Zenaida N. Elepaño, to GRANT the request of Police Director
General Avelino I. Razon, Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP), to delegate
the authority to endorse the applications for search warrant to be filed in the
Regional trial Courts of Manila and Quezon City to the Director of the
Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management of the PNP in connection
with Section 12 of the Guidelines on the Selection and Appointment of Executive
Judges (A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC).[6]
Thereafter, on
Should the [15 April 2008 Resolution of the Court] be
rendered moot by mere change of PNP leadership, the undersigned formally
requests for the issuance of a Resolution granting continuing authority
delegating to the Director, DIDM the endorsement of SW application in behalf of
the Chief, PNP before the said courts to withstand future changes of officers.[10]
The Court directed the Court
Administrator and the Chief Attorney to comment on P/Dir. Gen. Verzosa’s request.
In a Memorandum dated 19 December
2008, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), through incumbent Court
Administrator, Jose P. Perez, recommended that the current Chief of the PNP, as
well as all his successors thereafter, should be allowed to delegate to the
Director of the DIDM, PNP, the authority to endorse applications for search
warrant which are to be filed before the RTCs of Manila and Quezon City.
The Office of the Chief Attorney
(OCAT), on the other hand, observed in its Comment, submitted on
Since Section 12, Chapter V of
the Guidelines for Executive Judges appear
to be the hindrance to immediate action on applications for search warrant in
the cases mentioned therein, and to make the delegation applicable to all heads
of law enforcement agencies regardless of the holder of those positions, it may
be best for the Court to amend that guideline. Thereby, a change in leadership
in the PNP would not require the incumbent PNP Chief to seek the authority of
the Court to delegate his function to endorse an application for search
warrant. The amendment may also achieve the reason for and purpose of the
requested ‘continuing authority,’ especially because the authority of the PNP
Chief to delegate functions is expressly recognized by Section 26 of Republic
Act No. 6975.
The Court finds the observations
and recommendations of the OCA and OCAT to be well taken.
At present, Sec. 12, Chapter V of
A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC, entitled “Guidelines on the Selection and Appointment of
Executive Judges and Defining their Powers, Prerogatives and Duties,” dictates
that –
SEC.
12. Issuance of search warrants in
special criminal cases by the Regional Trial Courts of
The applications shall be personally endorsed by the heads of such agencies and shall particularly describe therein the places to be searched and/or the property or things to be seized as prescribed in the Rules of Court. The Executive Judges and Vice-Executive Judges concerned shall issue the warrants, if justified, which may be served in places outside the territorial jurisdiction of the said courts.
The Executive Judges and the authorized Judges shall keep a special docket book listing names of Judges to whom the applications are assigned, the details of the applications and the results of the searches and seizures made pursuant to the warrants issued.
This Section shall be an exception to Section 2 of Rule 126 of the Rules of Court.[11] (Emphasis supplied.)
From a cursory reading of the aforementioned
provision of A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC, it is crystal that applications for search
warrant to be filed before the RTCs of Manila and Quezon City must be
essentially approved in person by the heads of the following agencies: the PNP,
NBI, and ACTAF of the AFP. Accordingly,
in the incident recounted in the
Nevertheless, the Court
acknowledges that, to be efficient in the campaign to fight crime, the PNP
Chief must not be tied to his desk. Recent developments and trends in
criminality require the PNP Chief to be mobile, so that he will be effective in
the performance of several functions and responsibilities attendant to his
position. That being the case, there will be instances when documents demanding
the PNP Chief’s immediate attention and signature will not be acted upon right
away. One such document may be an
application for a search warrant, the immediate endorsement of which is a must
in order for the PNP to be effective and responsive in the conduct of its
criminal investigation. It is,
therefore, evident that for the PNP to function more effectively and
efficiently in its campaign against criminality, the safeguard in Sec. 12,
Chapter V of A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC, i.e., requiring the PNP Chief’s
personal endorsement of an application for search warrant, calls for a review.
As correctly observed by the OCAT,
the very specific requirement under Sec. 12, Chap. V of A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC –
that the heads of the PNP, NBI, and ACTAF of the AFP, personally endorse
applications of search warrants to be filed before the RTCs of Manila and
The aforementioned amendments of
Sec. 12, Chap. V of A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC, will not only enable the Chief of the
PNP, but the heads of the NBI and ACTAF of the AFP, as well, to delegate to
their duly authorized representatives the duty to endorse applications for
search warrant to be filed before the RTCs of Manila and Quezon City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, as it is hereby Resolved, in accordance with the
following discussion, that:
(1) The request of P/Dir. Gen. Jesus A. Verzosa for leave to delegate to
the Director of the DIDM, PNP, the authority to endorse applications for search
warrants to be filed before the RTCs of Manila and Quezon City, is hereby GRANTED
in accordance with Sec. 12, Chapter V of A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC, as it is
hereinafter amended; and
(2) Sec. 12, Chapter V of the Guidelines
on the Selection and Appointment of Executive Judges and Defining their Powers,
Prerogatives and Duties, as embodied in A.M. No. 03-8-02-SC, as approved by
the Court in its Resolution of 27 January 2004, is hereby AMENDED to
read as follows:
SEC.
12. Issuance of search warrants in special
criminal cases by the Regional Trial Courts of
The applications shall be endorsed by the heads of such agencies or their respective duly authorized officials and shall particularly describe therein the places to be searched and/or the property or things to be seized as prescribed in the Rules of Court. The Executive Judges and Vice-Executive Judges concerned shall issue the warrants, if justified, which may be served outside the territorial jurisdiction of the said courts.
The Executive Judges and the authorized Judges shall keep a special docket book listing names of Judges to whom the applications are assigned, the details of the applications and the results of the searches and seizures made pursuant to the warrants issued.
This Section shall be an exception to Section 2 of Rule 126 of the Rules of Court. (Emphasis supplied.)
This amendment shall apply to all
current, as well as succeeding heads of the PNP, NBI, and ACTAF of the
AFP. It shall take effect on
SO ORDERED.
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MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIOAssociate Justice |
WE CONCUR:
LEONARDO A. QUISUMBINGAssociate Justice |
CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGOAssociate Justice |
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ANTONIO T. CARPIOAssociate Justice |
RENATO C. CORONA Associate Justice |
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CONCHITA CARPIO-MORALES Associate Justice |
PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.
Associate Justice |
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ANTONIO EDUARDO B. NACHURA
Associate Justice
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TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO
Associate Justice
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ARTURO D. BRION
Associate Justice |
DIOSDADO M. PERALTA
Associate Justice |
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LUCAS
P. BERSAMIN
Associate Justice