GR L 72301; (July, 1987) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-72301; July 31, 1987
ROLANDO PONSICA, ET AL., petitioners, vs. HON. EMILIO M. IGNALAGA, ET AL., respondents.
FACTS
On September 20, 1985, a violent dispersal of a demonstration in Escalante, Negros Occidental, resulted in numerous fatalities. In the absence of the municipal judge, Mayor Braulio Lumayno, acting under Section 143 of the Local Government Code, took cognizance of a complaint filed by the military charging some rallyists with inciting to sedition. After purportedly conducting a preliminary investigation, Mayor Lumayno issued an order for the arrest of certain demonstrators. The petitioners, who were among those charged, subsequently filed an urgent motion to quash the warrant of arrest.
The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Section 143 of the Local Government Code, arguing it was repealed by the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure and, more fundamentally, that it violated the constitutional requirement that warrants of arrest be issued only by a neutral and detached magistrate. They contended that a municipal mayor, being an executive official, could not fulfill this judicial role.
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether Section 143 of the Local Government Code, granting a municipal mayor the power to conduct preliminary investigations and order arrests, was valid.
RULING
The Court ruled against the petitioners but with critical qualifications. It held that Section 143 of the Local Government Code was not repealed by the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure. The Rules explicitly recognized the authority of “such other officers as may be authorized by law” to conduct preliminary investigations, which included municipal mayors under the Local Government Code. However, the Court declared that the mayor’s power to order arrests ceased upon the ratification of the 1987 Constitution on February 2, 1987. The new Constitution’s Article III, Section 2, mandates that arrest warrants must be issued by a judge, thereby removing this authority from executive officials like mayors.
Furthermore, the Court found the preliminary investigation conducted by Mayor Lumayno in this specific case to be fatally defective. The investigation was a mere sham, as the mayor relied solely on affidavits and a pro forma “searching questions and answers” document from the military complainant, without examining other available witnesses or conducting a genuine inquiry to determine probable cause. The arrest order was therefore declared null and void. The petition was dismissed, but the warrant of arrest issued by the mayor was annulled.