ILOILO City – Seven search warrants against members of the indigenous people’s (IP) group Tumandok in Tapaz, Capiz were quashed by the Regional Trial Court (RTC), 6th Judicial Region, Branch 21 in Mambusao, Capiz.
They failed to satisfy the constitutional requirement of definiteness or particularity, according to Judge Rommel S. Leonor on June 15, 2021 in three separate Omnibus Decisions.
The motions to quash search warrants were filed by accused Marivic Aguirre (two search warrants), Marilou Catamin, Eleuteria Caro, Ferdinand Capillo, Jucie Caro, and Rollen Catamin.
The court also ordered all evidence obtained during the illegal search be “suppressed… (and) in any and all legal proceedings, the said obtained evidence are all inadmissible as evidence.”
On Dec. 20, 2020, troops of the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and the Police Regional Office 6 carried out synchronized military-police operations in Calinog, Iloilo and Tapaz, Capiz.
The raids for alleged illegal firearms and explosives resulted in the arrest of 16 IPs and death of nine others.
Among those killed in Barangay Lahug, Tapaz were Roy Giganto, chairperson of Tumandok, and village councilor and co-councilors Reynaldo Katipunan and Mario Aguirre, according to farmers’ group Pamanggas Panay, the regional chapter of militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).
The three were previously placed under military surveillance for protesting against dam projects in the region, the KMP said.
In nullifying the search warrants, the court cited that the fifth requisite for a valid search warrant was not met.
The search warrants failed to specifically or particularly describe the place to be searched, thus, the constitutional requirement of definiteness was not satisfied.
The Supreme Court set the requisites for the issuance of valid search warrants:
* probable cause is present
* such presence is determined personally by the judge
* the complainant and the witnesses he or she may produce are personally examined by the judge, in writing and under oath or affirmation
* the applicant and the witnesses testify on the facts personally known to them
* the warrant specifically describes the place to be searched and the things to be seized
The high court added that “the absence of any of these requisites will cause the downright nullification of the search warrants.”
‘ONE STEP CLOSER’
Crimson Labinghisa, secretariat of the Defend Panay Network and Counsel for the Tumandok under Concerned Lawyers of Panay, said this development in their legal battle was one step closer to attaining justice for the Tumandok.
“Pero indi kita mag-untat sa pag-quash lang. Mapadayon ang Defend Panay Network kag iban pa gid nga mga organizations kag individuals kag mga abogado sa pagduso sang hustisya nga makuha sang aton kautoran nga mga Tumandok…. madamo na ang nabiktima sa mga ilegal nga mga search warrant nga ini. Nagapati kita nga sa dalayon ma-uphold naton ang pagsunod sa layi especially sa pag-render sang mga search warrant,” said Labinghisa.
Monsignor Meliton Oso, convenor of the Iloilo Council for Ecumenism and Defend Panay Network, also welcomed the court ruling.
“Gintagaan sang hustisya ang aton nga Tumandok. Na-invalidate ang mga search warrants nga gin-issue didto sa bahin sang Tapaz,” said Oso.
Meanwhile, Atty. Teopisto Melliza, counsel for the Tumandok, said the court decision meant that the Tumandok were “innocent of the charges” (illegal possession of firearms and explosives).
“Because of the search warrants being null and void, ang mga butang nga nakompiska indi sarang mahimo nga ebidensya kontra sa mga akusado… Suno sa decision ni Judge Leonor, the search warrants were annulled, that means nga inosente ang mga akusado bangod waay sang ebidensya batok sa ila,” he emphasized.
Three of the 10 accused from Tapaz and five of the six accused from Calinog town availed themselves of the plea bargaining or pleaded guilty to a lesser offense. One case proceeded to trial as the accused was not able to a file motion to quash./PN
