MISCELLANEOUS LAWS 1180outside of office hours, direct the law enforcement agency concerned to file the case withthe

City or Provincial Prosecutor for appropriate action. SEC. 6. Presence of the detained person .The presence of the detained personwho is under custody shall be ensured during the proceedings.However, the production of the detained person before the Inques t Officer may bedispensed with in the following cases:a. if he is confined in a hospital;b. if he is detained in a place under maximum security;c. if production of the detained person involve security ris s; ord. if the presence of the deta ined person is not feasible by reason of age, health,sex and other similar facto rs.The absence of the detained person by reason of any of the foregoing factors mustbe noted by the Inquest Officer and reflected in the record of the case. SEC. 7. Charges and counter-charges .All charges and counter-charges arisingfrom the same incident shall, as far as p racticable, be consolidated and inquested jointlyto avoid contradictory or incon sistent dispositions. SEC. 8. Initial duty of the inquest officer .The Inquest Officer must first deter-mine if the arrest of the detained person w as made in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of Section 5 , Rule 113 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure,as amended, which provide tha t arrests without a warrant may be effected:a. when, in the presence of the arre sting officer, the person to be arrested hascommitted, is actually committing, o r is attempting to commit an offense; orb. when an offense has in fact just been committed, and the arresting officer haspersonal nowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it.For this purpose, the Inquest Of ficer may summarily examine the arresting offi-cers on the circumstances surroun ding the arrest or apprehension of the detained per-son. SEC. 9. Where arrest not properly effected .Should the Inquest Officer find thatthe arrest was not made in accordance with t he Rules, he shall:a. recommend the release of the person arrested or detained;b . note down the disposition of the referral document;c. prepare a brief memorand um indicating the reasons for the action ta en; andd. forward the same, together with the record of the case, to the City or Provin-cial Prosecutor for appropri ate action.Where the recommendation for the release of the detained person is ap proved bythe City or Provincial Prosecutor but the evidence on hand warrant the conduct of aregular preliminary investigation, the order of release shall be ser ved on the officer INQUEST PROCEDURES 1181having custody of said detainee and shall direct the said officer to serve u pon the de-tainee the subpoena or notice of preliminary investigation, together with the copies of the charge sheet or complaint, affidavits or sworn statements of the complainant andhis witnesses and other supporting evidence. SEC. 10. Where the arrest property effected .Should the Inquest Officer findthat the arrest was properly effected, the detain ed person should be as ed if he desiresto avail himself of a preliminary investi gation, if he does, he shall be made to execute awaiver of the provisions of Art icle 125 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, with theassistance of a lawyer a nd, in case of non-availability of a lawyer, a responsible personof his choice. The preliminary investigation may be conducted by the Inquest Officerhimself or by any other Assistant Prosecutor to whom the case may be assigned by theCity or

Provincial Prosecutor, which investigation shall be terminated within fifteen(1 5) days from its inception. SEC. 11. Inquest proper .Where the detained person does not opt for a prelimi-nary investigation or other wise refuses to execute the required waiver, the InquestOfficer shall proceed wi th the inquest by examining the sworn statements/affidavits of the complainant a nd the witnesses and other supporting evidence submitted to him.If necessary, th e Inquest Officer may require the presence of the complainant andwitnesses and s ubject them to an informal and summary investigation or examinationfor purposes of determining the existence of probable cause. SEC. 12. Meaning of probable cause .Probable cause exists when the evidencesubmitted to the Inquest Officer engender s a well-founded belief that a crime has beencommitted and that the arrested or detained person is probably guilty thereof. SEC. 13. Presence of probable cause .If the Inquest Officer finds that probablecause exists, he shall forthwith prepa re the corresponding complaint/information withthe recommendation that the same be filed in court. The complaint/information shallindicate the offense committed and the amount of bail recommended, if bailable.Thereafter, the record of the c ase, together with the prepared com-plaint/information, shall be forwarded to th e City or Provincial Prosecutor for appropri-ate action.The complaint/informatio n may be filed by the Inquest Officer himself or by anyother Assistant Prosecuto r to whom the case may be assigned by the City or ProvincialProsecutor. SEC. 14. Contents of information .The information shall, among others, con-tain:a. a certification by the filing P rosecutor that he is filing the same in accordancewith the provisions of Section 7, Rule 112 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, asamended, in cases cogniz able by the Regional Trial Court;b. the full name and alias, if any, and address of the accused; MISCELLANEOUS LAWS 1182c. the place where the accused is actually detained;d. the full names and ad dresses of the complainant and witnesses;e. a detailed description of the recove red item, if any;f. the full name and address of the evidence custodian;g. the a ge and date of birth of the complainant or the accused, if eighteen (19)years of age or below; andh. the full names and addresses of the parents, custodians or guardians of theminor complainant or accused, as the case may be. SEC. 15. Absence of probable cause .If the Inquest Officer finds no probablecause, he shall:a. recommend the release of the arrested or detained person;b. note down his disposition on the referral document;c. prepare a brief memorandum indicating the reasons for the action ta en; andd. forthwith forward the record of the case to the City or Provincial Pr osecutor forappropriate action.If the recommendation of the Inquest Officer for the release of the arrested or de-tained person is approved, the order of releas e shall be served on the officer havingcustody of the said detainee.Should the C ity or Provincial Prosecutor disapprove the recommendation of re-lease, the arre sted or detained person shall remain under custody, and the correspond-ing compl aint/information shall be filed by the City or Provincial Prosecutor or by anyAs sistant Prosecutor to whom the case may be assigned. SEC. 16. Presence at the crime scene .Whenever a dead body is found and thereis reason to believe that the death resul ted from foul play, or from the unlawful acts oromissions of other persons and s uch fact has been brought to his attention, the InquestOfficer shall:a. forthwit

h proceed to the crime scene or place of discovery of the dead person;b. cause a n immediate autopsy to be conducted by the appropriate medico-legalofficer in th e locality or the PNP medico-legal division or the NBI medico-legal office, asth e case may be;c. direct the police investigator to cause the ta ing of photograp hs of the crimescene or place of discovery of the dead body;d. supervise the inv estigation to be conducted by the police authorities as well asthe recovery of a ll articles and pieces of evidence found thereat and see to it that thesame are safeguarded and the chain of the custody thereof properly recorded; ande. submit a written report of his finding to the City or Provincial Prosecutor forappropr iate action.