Police can Search vehicles without Warrant

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

At the height of the Atimonan, Quezon “massacre” and the gun ban ordered by the Comelec from January 13 to June 12 this year, I heard public officials whining that those policemen who flagged down the group of alleged illegal gambling juggernaut Vic Siman should have acquired a search warrant first from a judge and that mayors and their body guards should not worry to bring their long and short firearms when they travel outside their jurisdiction because policemen at check points are limited only by law to visual search their vehicle. 
“You’re wrong sirs,” I smilingly told them.
 I added that according to the “papel ng gawgaw” I happened to read when I was answering the call of nature, one of the exceptions that are supported by jurisprudence for a valid search is “Moving Vehicle.”
 The logic and wisdom of this exception according to the justices of the Supreme Court was: "Moving vehicle traverses by hours, while a search warrant being acquired by the police from a judge takes a day or two".
***
 Without that logic and wisdom, the bad guys would have already absconded somewhere before the cops wave the search warrant approved by the judge.
 It’s the same warrantless search for the Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) of politicians who shrewdly hide inside the compartments or trunks of their gas guzzling vehicle and its tailing escort vehicle their firearms.” With “Moving Vehicle” as an exception, it takes only a tipster from their place of departure to inform the police through cell phone that he has a personal knowledge that Siman’s or the politician’s car carries the corpus delicti (body of the crime).
 This warrantless search (if you still doubts what I opined here) is corroborated by People vs. Lo Ho Wing that you can access at http://www.shvoong.com/law-and-politics/1767269-case-digest-people-vs-lo/ to answer your skepticism or intellectual curiosity.
 Oh by the way, the other mode of warrantless search is “Consent” when the owner of the vehicle or a house gives his express or imply nod where he is not under duress to the peace officers to search his property.

 *** 
" Talo si (Mayor) Arman Domantay at Benjie (Lim, Mayor of Dagupan City),” a media man blurted recently to me. 
He was waving a photo copy of a decision of the Court of Appeals where the CA reversed the decision of the Regional Trial Court of San Carlos City that rejected Mario Armas’ (a resident of Malasiqui) petition for injunction that the construction of the swanky Magic Mall in Malasiqui has been backed up by a legitimate municipal resolution.
 Armas said the approval of the former town council was unlawful because five council members who passed it did not meet the minimum number of six to form a quorum. 

***
 I told the hack it’s not the end of the world for Domantay and Benjie since the mayor and the dads who were charged by the civil case can still ask for a motion for reconsideration at the CA and can appeal any adverse decision of the CA at the Supreme Court.
 “Mga two years pa ang labanan diyan after they fought for three years in the RTC and CA”

 ***
 In case the SC favors Armas, at least Benjie can still minimize his tens of millions of pesos expenses he incurred for the construction of the mall as the case turtle paces in the higher tribunal.”
 When I bumped into him recently, Mayor Lim was optimistic that the high court will side with Domantay and the members of the council. 

***
 Domantay should not worry about the electoral repercussion brought by the Magic Mall's brouhaha.
 He can even exploit it through his leaders in the boondocks that in case the SC upholds the decision of the CA, Malasiqui gets the wherewithal. 
 Imagine susmariosep, a multi-million peso mammoth building for a first class town where government employees can run, roll, jump, and whatchamacallit in the name of huge spaces as they hold offices there. Malasiqui could even lease it to business enterprise and retain if not buttress its municipal revenue that Magic used to pay her.

 ***
 I heard the camp of vice mayoralty bet Belen Fernandez (incumbent vice mayor of Dagupan City) has been too generous since December last year to would- be voters in Dagupan City. 
Belen, who owns giant retail store CSI, is pitted with Mayor Lim who owns Magic group of companies.
I could understand Belen, she’s fighting for her political and business life. In 2016, the giant CSI mall in the downtown area that was allegedly railroaded at P50,000 per councilor 22 years ago would be renegotiated for another 25 years according to the resolution of the Sanggunian Panglungsod (City Council) that created its existence.
 “Anak ng Bakang Dalaga, a Benjie Lim administration next year would be a bane to Belen. Everybody would agree with me that Benjie through his superb power of persuasion with the wide-eyed members of the August Body will relish seeing that the edifice would be reverted to the city government,” I told Procopio my sidekick in the vernacular.
 Just like in Malasiqui (in case the SC upholds the CA), Dagupan City would be lucky for having a huge two storey building without a single cent loan acquired from the bank.
Pag sinuerte nga naman !
(Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com)