Republic of the Philippines

Department of Justice
OFFICE OF THE CITY PROSECUTOR
Zamboanga City

AFFIDAVIT - COMPLAINT

I, ABUBAKAR ISMAEL RAE, 36 years old, married,

Filipino, and a resident of Cawit, Zamboanga City since
1978, after having been duly sworn to in accordance with
law, do hereby depose and say;
That I am a fish vendor for a long time at AMR Fishing
Company located at Cawit, Zamboanga City and I have five
(5) children staying with me.
That on April 18, 2014, from Cawit, Zamboanga City I
boarded a Jeepney heading down- town wearing a jacket
and a Mr. Lee t-shirt as my inner shirt and disembarked at
the East-West Central School, Zamboanga City. Upon
disembarking at the East- West Central School, six (6)
policemen officers in civilian attire blocked my way.
Immediately they handcuffed me and I for once, resisted
and asked them why they did it. After that, they informed
me that I am selling Shabu. Right there and then, they
pushed me inside their van and meticulously searched my
front and back pockets but did not find anything.

After then, I asked them to free me because I was not

committing any violation. Upon saying that, they told me
that they will not release me until somebody else will have
to be arrested in exchange of my freedom. But I refused
their proposition due to the fact that I do not know a
person who is involved in selling prohibited drugs (Shabu).
After that, they took me to the Central Police Station. I was
shocked when they detained me without violating against
the law.
That on the same day they took me to their office and
took a photo of me in which I was asked to sit on a chair
fronting a table with foil and a wallet on top of it. Thus, it
was only my first time to see the aforementioned evidence
against me.
Furthermore, I personally knew the Police Officers who
arrested me, P02 Zaide Tutuan because he is the batch
mate of the brother of my former co- employee.

That, I vehemently deny possessing these items. It

would be unrealistic enough to throw something illegal in
front of the police officers who were blocking my way.

ISSUES

1.) Whether the warrantless arrest and the search of the

person was valid;

2.)

Whether

the

items

seized are

inadmissible

in

evidence.

ARGUMENTS AND DISCUSSIONS

What had transpired on that alleged day April 18, 2014

were manifestations of fabricated happenings.

From the

narrated version of the Complainant, PO2 Tutuan, six (6) of

the arresting officers were able to blocked my way, dragging

me inside their Police mobile and thereafter searched me

(Complainants Case Report)

From these averments alone, the Respondent would

rather escaped from them and would not even provoke
himself to throw the alleged drugs in front of them,
knowing that, he personally know this person in one P02
Zaide Tutuan, who was in front of him. On the other hand,
it was his first time to see the alleged shabu without
knowing where it came from. Another point, having said
that in order for him to be released he needs first to
pinpoint another person using shabu in which in this case
is very disingenuous.
In addition with, it is highly a misleading action of the
said officers to apprehend the Respondent, when in fact
they found nothing to prove that he was the one described
by the Informant on that said event. Thus, it would be
unlawful to force him to make confession and admit said
action.

Moreover,

they

failed

to

appraise

the

accused

constitutional rights in doing the investigation. Thus,

further saying Irregularity of the Arrest was present.

Hence, for this infraction, the arresting officer should

be punished accordingly.
Pursuant to, Section 5 (a), Rule 113 of the Revised
Rules on Criminal Procedure, to wit:
Sec. 5. Arrest without warrant; when
lawful. A peace office of a private person
may, without a warrant, arrest a person:
(a) When, in his presence, the person
to be arrested has committed, is
actually committing, or is attempting
to commit an offense.
However, a settled exception to the right guaranteed by
the provision is that of an arrest made during the
commission of a crime, which does not require a previously
issued warrant.

Such warrantless arrest is considered

reasonable and valid under Section 5 (a), Rule 113 of the

Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure, to wit:
For the exception in Section 5 (a),
Rule 113 to operate, this Court has
ruled that two (2) elements must be
present: (1) the person to be arrested
must
execute
an
overt
act
indicating
that
he
has
just
committed, is actually committing,
or is attempting to commit a crime;

and (2) such overt act is done in the

presence or within the view of the
arresting officer.
Considering the circumstances immediately prior to
and surrounding the arrest of Respondent, the arresting
officer did not evidently see that he was committing the
crime. Respondent was not visibly seen by the arresting
officers doing an overt act of committing or attempting to
commit a crime. At that instance, the Respondent has just
disembarked from the jeep. There being no elements
present as stated in the abovementioned rule constituting
the commission of the crime, there is no crime to speak off.
What makes the arrest illegal, the Respondent was
arrested prior to the search.

Recent jurisprudence holds that in

searches incident to a lawful
arrest, the
arrest must precede the search; generally,
the
process
cannot
be
reversed.
Nevertheless, a search substantially
contemporaneous with
an arrest can
precede the arrest if the police have
probable cause to make the arrest at the
outset of the search

x x Excerpt from G.R. No. 186529, People vs. Raquero x x

Having been averred that the arrest was illegal, any evidence
derived there from must be inadmissible in any court proceeding
being the fruit of a poisonous tree.
Therefore, there was no violation of Sections 11 and 12.
Article II of Republic Act No. 1965.

I am executing this affidavit to attest to the truth of the

foregoing on our own free will and volition.
AFFIANT FURTHER SAYETH NAUGHT.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature

this

________________________________,

at

Zamboanga

City,

Philippines.

ABUBAKAR ISMAEL RAE

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this __________________________

at ___________________________, Philippines.

CERTIFICATION

THIS IS TO CERTIFY that I have personally examined the

herein affiant and that I am fully satisfied that he voluntarily
executed this affidavit and understood the contents thereof.

____________________________,
Philippines.

_____________________,