Question & AnswerQ&A (CID LAW INSTRUCTIONS NO. 11)
Article III, Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution provides that no warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and the warrant must particularly describe the person to be seized.
Arrest without a warrant is lawful when the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense in the arresting officer's presence; or when an offense has just been committed and the officer has personal knowledge that the person to be arrested has committed it.
The officer must inform the person to be arrested of his authority and the cause of the arrest unless the person is currently engaged in an offense, is being pursued immediately after the offense or escape, forcibly resists, or informing would imperil the arrest.
A Mission Order is issued by the Commissioner and effectively authorizes an intelligence team to make warrantless arrests for violations of the Immigration Act, in lieu of a warrant of arrest.
Generally, aliens in deportation proceedings do not have an inherent right to bail. The Supreme Court ruled in Ong See Hang v. the Commissioner of Immigration that bail in such cases is a discretionary grant by the Commissioner and deportation proceedings are not criminal actions invoking the constitutional right to bail.
Any member of the bar, at the request of the person arrested or their representative, has the right to visit and confer privately with the arrested person at any hour. Relatives have the same right subject to reasonable regulation.
An officer making an arrest by warrant or authorized warrantless arrest may break into any building or enclosure where the person to be arrested is or reasonably believed to be, if the person refuses admittance after the officer has announced his authority and purpose.
Copies of these Instructions shall be filed with the court in habeas corpus proceedings where the Commission is a respondent. A designated Office of the Solicitor General group is tasked to liaise with the courts and extend full cooperation.