GR 228608; (August, 2020) (Digest)
G.R. No. 228608 & G.R. No. 228589, August 27, 2020
Delfin R. Pilapil, Jr. and People of the Philippines, Petitioners, vs. Lydia Y. Cu, Respondent.
FACTS
The Bicol Chromite and Manganese Corporation (BCMC), holder of a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement, entered into an Operating Agreement with Prime Rock. The Mines and Geosciences Bureau issued a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) against Prime Rock. Months later, then-Mayor Delfin Pilapil, Jr., upon receiving reports of possible illegal mining, conducted an ocular inspection of the BCMC/Prime Rock mining site. He was accompanied by policemen and barangay officials.
During the inspection on August 24, 2011, a barangay captain discovered an open stockroom containing sacks of explosives. Mayor Pilapil ordered their seizure. An inventory yielded 41 sacks of explosives and safety fuses. A certification later stated no permit to transport or withdraw explosives had been issued to Prime Rock. An Information for illegal possession of explosives was filed against several individuals, including respondent Lydia Cu, president of BCMC.
ISSUE
Whether the warrantless seizure of the explosives during the mayor’s inspection was valid, and consequently, whether the seized items could be used as evidence to establish probable cause for the crime of illegal possession of explosives.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court ruled the seizure was unconstitutional and the evidence was inadmissible. The inspection conducted by Mayor Pilapil was not a valid administrative search under the Mining Act. The law grants visitorial and inspection powers to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Environmental Management Bureau, not to local chief executives. The mayor’s authority to inspect for local ordinance violations does not extend to enforcing special laws like those on explosives.
The Court emphasized that the “plain view” doctrine did not apply. For this doctrine to justify a warrantless seizure, the officer must have a prior justification for an intrusion. Here, the mayor’s entry into the private mining site was not pursuant to any recognized administrative inspection power under mining laws. Since the initial intrusion was unlawful, the subsequent seizure of the explosives, though in plain view, was tainted as “fruit of the poisonous tree.”
Consequently, the seized explosives were inadmissible in evidence. Without this illicitly obtained evidence, there was no competent basis to establish probable cause for the crime of illegal possession of explosives against respondent Cu. The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision to dismiss the Information and quash the warrant of arrest against her.