Recent News

Be Informed Know Your Rights -
Checking Checkpoint Guidelines

The establishment of random checkpoints by virtue of Comelec Resolution No. 9588 has made the voting population more aware of the inexorable preparations for the midterm polls this coming May 2013.

As per Section 1 of the Resolution, at least one checkpoint should be set up in every city or municipality, but the highest ranking official of either the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the area is given discretion to establish additional checkpoints in other strategic locations.

Consistent with jurisprudence, the checkpoint search is confined to a “mere routine inspection” that is limited to a visual search of the vehicle, and the occupants are allowed to stay in their seats while the search is conducted. As the Resolution itself states, the search should impose minimum inconvenience on the motorists.

In Valmonte v. de Villa, the Supreme Court noted that the reasonableness of a search is a judicial question that is determined on a case-to-case basis. When the officer conducting the search merely flashes a light into the vehicle and looks therein, there is no great intrusion into the rights of the occupants.

However, there are certain instances when the officers manning the checkpoint can conduct an extensive search…
These are: 1) when the occupants of the vehicle appear apprehensive or uncooperative; 2) when the officer conducting the search has probable cause that either the occupant is a law offender or that the evidence pertaining to the commission of the crime can be found in the vehicle to be searched; or 3) when there is prior confidential information that is reasonably corroborated by other matters (People v. Caballes, G.R. No. 136292, January 15, 2002; see also Section 8 of Resolution). In such cases, the officer conducting the search is justified in subjecting both the vehicle and the occupants to a more thorough search.