G.R. No. 50720 - Mata vs. Bayona

Soriano Mata (petitioner) was charged under Presidential Decree No. 810, as amended by PD 1306, for selling illegal “masiao tickets” on the Jai Alai game without authority.
Hon. Josephine K. Bayona (respondent judge, not reappointed) of the City Court of Ormoc issued a search warrant based solely on an application and a joint affidavit of private respondents Bernardo U. Goles and Reynaldo T. Mayote, members of the Intelligence Section of the 352nd PC Company, INP.

During pre‐trial of Criminal Case No. 4298-CC, Mata discovered that the search warrant and its supporting papers were missing from the court records. Upon inquiry, Judge Bayona retrieved and handed them to the City Fiscal, who then attached them to the case records.
Mata filed a motion to quash and annul the warrant, and for the return of seized items, invoking Section 4 of Rule 126, Revised Rules of Court, alleging lack of written depositions and non-attachment of pertinent papers.

On March 1, 1979, the City Court denied the motion, certifying that the judge conducted a thorough examination under oath of Goles and Mayote, and stating that the rules did not specify when attachments must be made to the record.
A motion for reconsideration was likewise denied on March 21, 1979. Petitioner then elevated the matter to the Supreme Court via a petition for certiorari, naming Judge Bayona and the private respondents.

Whether the search warrant issued by Judge Bayona complied with the Constitution (Art. III, Sec. 2) and Section 4, Rule 126, Revised Rules of Court, requiring the judge to personally examine complainant and witnesses under oath, take their depositions in writing, and attach such depositions to the record.
Whether the alleged illegality of the search warrant renders the seized articles inadmissible as evidence or entitles the petitioner to their return.