REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL PROSECUTION SERVICE
OFFICE OF THE CITY PROSECUTOR
OLONGAPO CITY

RONNEL MAS y ARANDA,

Complainant,
NPS Docket ________________
FOR: ARBITRARY DETENTION
-versus-

JUAN DELA CRUZ y SANTOS and

PEDRO SAN JUAN y DELA TORRE,
Respondents,
x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
Republic of the Philippines )
City of Olongapo )
Province of Zambales ) s.s.

COMPLAINT-AFFIDAVIT
I, RONNEL MAS y ARANDA, of legal age, Filipino, and a resident of No. 308
Verturozo St., Poblacion North, Sta. Cruz, Zambales, after having been duly sworn to in
accordance with the law, do hereby depose and say that:

1. On May 11, 2020, I was arrested by the Respondents, Juan Dela Cruz y
Santos and Pedro San Juan y Dela Torre, who are NBI Agents, for the tweet I posted on
my Twitter account on May 5, 2020, that read: “I will give P 50 million reward kung sino
makakapatay kay Duterte. #NotoABSCBNShutDown.”;

2. A case was filed against me with regard to the said tweet for allegedly
committing the crime of Inciting to Sedition under Article 142 of the Revised Penal Code
in relation to Republic Act No. 10175 (Cybecrime Prevention Act of 2012) which was raffled
to the Regional Trial Court, Branch 72 of Olongapo City presided by Hon. Richard A.
Paradeza;

3. Thereafter, I filed a Motion to Quash Information dated May 28, 2020

questioning the legality of the arrest made against me;

4. On June 24, 2020, Hon. Richard A. Paradeza issued an Order 1 granting my

motion to quash information and, accordingly, dismissed the case against me declaring
that I was “indeed unlawfully arrested”; 2

1
Order dated June 24, 2020 penned by Hon. Richard A. Paradeza;
2
Supra;
 5. Deeply aggrieved, I filed this present case against the Respondents for the
latters’ wrongdoing as follows:

a. Respondents are member of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who

arrested me on May 11, 2020 without any warrant and detained me without any legal
grounds. Detention is defined as the actual confinement of a person in an enclosure, or in
any manner detaining and depriving him of his liberty. 3 A person is likewise detained
when he is placed in confinement or there is a restrain on his person 4;

b. The law provides the following legal grounds 5for the detention of any
person: (1) the commission of the crime; and, (2) violent insanity or any other ailment
requiring the compulsory confinement of the patient in a hospital;

c. Clearly, I was detained without any legal grounds and that I was illegally
arrested by the Respondents as it was done without any warrant;

d. A public officer must have a warrant of arrest properly issued by the court
in order to justify an arrest. If there is no such warrant of arrest, the arrest of a person by
a public officer may constitute arbitrary detention. 6 However, a peace officer or a private
person may, without a warrant, arrest a person: (1) When, in his presence, the person to
be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
(2) When an offense has in fact just been committed, and he has probable cause to
believe based on personal knowledge of facts and circumstances that the person to be
arrested has committed it; and, (3) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has
escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or
temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred
from one confinement to another7;

e. The arrest without warrant made by the Respondents against me did not
fall from any of the foregoing circumstances as the latter executed the same without
probable cause. Probable cause 8can be defined as such facts and circumstances which
could lead a reasonable discreet and prudent man to believe that an offense has been
committed and that the object sought in connection with the offense are in the place
sought to be searched.

f. Based on the foregoing, the Respondents have committed the crime of

Arbitrary Detention under Article 124 of the Revised Penal Code for detaining me without
any legal grounds as the following elements of the said crime were clearly present: (1)
That the offender is a public officer or employee; (2) That he detains a person; and, (3)
That the detention is without legal grounds.9

g. Therefore, I execute this Complaint-Affidavit to attest to the truth of the

foregoing facts and the circumstances surrounding the illegal arrest and detention made
against me and to support the filling of the case for “ARBITRARY DETENTION” under
Article 124 of the Revised Penal Code against JUAN DELA CRUZ y SANTOS and PEDRO
SAN JUAN y DELA TORRE, who may be served with Subpoenae and notices from this

3
People vs. Gungon, G.R. No. 119574
4
U.S. vs. Cabanag, 8 Phil. 64
5
Article 124, Paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code(RPC);
6
“The Revised Penal Code (Criminal Law) by Luis B. Reyes,” page 45;
7
Sec. 5, Rule 113, Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure;
8
Quintero vs. NBI, 162 SCRA 467 [1988];
9
U.S. vs. Braganza, et al., 10 Phil 79; Milo vs. Salonga, 152 SCRA 113; Astorga vs. People, G.R. No. 154130, October
1, 2003
Honorable Office through their office address at NBI IBA SATELLITE OFFICE, Iba,
Zambales.

AFFIANT FUTHER SAYETH NAUGHT.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my had this 14TH day of July, 2020 at
Olongapo City, Philippines

RONNEL MAS y ARANDA

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 14TH day of July, 2020 in Olongapo
City, Phillippines. I FURTHER CERTIFY that I have personally examined the affiant and I
am satisfied that he has read and personally understood the contents of his foregoing
Complaint-Affidavit.

MARIA ELIZABETH RAMOS y FUENTES

City Prosecutor
 VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION

I, Ronnel Mas y Aranda, of legal age, and with residential address at No. 308
Verturozo St., Poblacion North, Sta. Cruz, Zambales, under oath, hereby depose and
states that:

1. I am the complainant in this case;

2. I have caused the preparation and filling of the foregoing complaint;

3. I have read and understood the contents thereof, and the allegations
thereof are true and correct of my knowledge and based on authentic records;

4. I have not therefore commenced any other action or proceedings involving

the same issues in the Supreme Court, The Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or
agency;

5. To the best of my knowledge, no such action or claim is pending in the

Supreme Court, The Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; if there is a such
other pending action or claim, a complete statement of the present status thereof; and,

6. If I should thereafter learn that the same or similar action or claim has
been filed or is pending, I shall report that fact within five (5) days therefrom to the court
wherein my aforesaid complaint or initiatory pleading has been filed.

RONNEL MAS y ARANDA

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 14TH day of July, 2020 in Olongapo
City, Zambales, affiant exhibiting to me his Valid Identification with No. 12345679.

Doc. No.:______________
Page No.:______________
Book No.______________
Series of 2020