Criminal Procedure – is the study of the process in prosecuting crimes in observance

of the five pillars of the Criminal Justice System

 Law enforcement
 Prosecution
 Court
 Corrections
 Community

The prevailing Criminal Procedure came into effect through the issuance of
Administrative Matted (A.M.) No. 00-5-03-SC dated October 3, 2000. It took
effect on December 1, 2000, following its publication in the Official Gazette and two
newspapers of general circulation.

Criminal action – it is defined as one by which the State prosecutes a person for an
act or omission punishable by law

CHAPTER 1
ARREST, SEARCHES, AND SEIZURES

LESSON 1
ARREST

Arrest – it is defined as the taking of a person into custody in order that he/she may be
bound to answer for the commission of an offense

Persons that cannot be arrested:

1. Members of Congress (Members of the House of Representatives and
Senators) provided that they are in session and only for an offense punishable by
not more than six (6) years of imprisonment
2. Diplomatic agents under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

Time of arrest – a person may be arrested anytime whether day or night, twenty-four
hours a day and seven days a week and even during holidays

Only the COURTS can issue warrant of arrests, such as Regional Trial Court, First-
Level Courts (Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal Circuit Trial
Courts or Municipal Trial Courts in Cities), Court of Tax Appeals, and Sandiganbayan.

Probable cause – pertains to facts and circumstances which would lead a reasonably
discreet and prudent person to believe that an offense has been committed by the
person sought to be arrested
If a party has reasons to prove that the arrest warrant was issued without probable
cause, such party may move to quash the warrant of arrest.

A person ordered to be arrested by the Court by virtue of an arrest warrant must be

physically arrested within ten (10) days from receipt by the arrested who received the
warrant. If the arrester cannot bodily locate the person to be arrested within the 10-day
period, the officer must make a report to the judge that issued the arrest warrant as
to the status or reason/s for non-arrest.

If the accused is already arrested, the court will not issue an arrest warrant but a
commitment order to bring the detainee from the police station to the city or
provincial jail under the supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Warrantless arrests:

1. In flagrante delicto arrest – if a person has just consummated a crime, or is

in the court of committing or is attempting to commit a crime, the offender will
be arrested outright without need of an arrest warrant. It requires that a crime
must at least be “attempted” (establish the presence of overt act before
arresting), “being committed” of “had just been committed”.

Examples:
a. Arrest conducted in an entrapment operation such as buy-bust operation of
dangerous drugs
b. Arrest of a person caught in the act of gambling in a public place

2. Hot pursuit arrest – the arrested has probable cause that an offense has just
been committed and has personal belief that the person to be arrested committed
a crime.

Mere suspicion that a crime took place is not enough. Warrantless arrest based
“in personal knowledge on the facts and circumstances” must be coupled
with the element of immediacy.

3. Arrest of escaped prisoners – when the prisoner to be arrested is a prisoner

who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he/she is serving
final judgment or is temporarily confined while his/her case is pending, or has
escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another
Reference:

Criminal Procedure and Court Testimony First Edition

By: Renato M. Abastillas, Jr. and Atty. Eric Paul D. Peralta