G.R. No. 164815 - Valeroso vs. Court of Appeals

On July 10, 1996, Sr. Insp. Jerry C. Valeroso was charged under Presidential Decree No. 1866 for the illegal possession of a .38 Charter Arms revolver (Serial No. 52315) and five live ammunition without the necessary license or permit.
SPO2 Antonio Disuanco, executing a warrant for kidnapping with ransom, allegedly arrested Valeroso near the Integrated National Police Central Police Station in Culiat, Quezon City, conducted a warrantless body search, and seized the firearm and ammunition; a certification by Epifanio Deriquito later confirmed the weapon was registered to Raul Palencia Salvatierra, not to Valeroso.

Valeroso testified he was asleep in his children’s boarding house when four armed men in civilian clothes woke him, tied his hands, placed him outside the room, and ransacked a locked cabinet where they found the firearm.
SPO3 Agustin R. Timbol Jr. and Adrian Yuson corroborated that Valeroso held a Memorandum Receipt dated July 1, 1993—issued by Col. Angelito Moreno—covering the same revolver and ammunition.

On May 6, 1998, the Regional Trial Court, Branch 97, Quezon City, convicted Valeroso of illegal possession, sentencing him to an indeterminate term of four years, two months, one day to six years, and ordered confiscation of the firearm.
The Court of Appeals affirmed (with a lowered minimum term), and this Court affirmed on petition for review; Valeroso’s first motion for reconsideration was denied on June 30, 2008. The Office of the Solicitor General later filed a Manifestation recommending acquittal, prompting admission of Valeroso’s Letter-Appeal as a second motion for reconsideration.

Whether the warrantless search and seizure of the revolver and ammunition violated Valeroso’s constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizures under Article III, Sections 2 and 3(2) of the Constitution.
Whether the seizure fell within recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement—specifically, search incidental to lawful arrest or the plain view doctrine.

Whether Valeroso lawfully possessed the firearm by virtue of the 1993 Memorandum Receipt.
Whether, even if evidence is excluded, the defense of lawful possession could bar conviction.