SC voids search warrants on Nasino, companions

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the voiding of the search warrant against activist Reina Mae Nasino and her companions.

In a resolution dated Aug. 9, 2023, the Supreme Court's third division upheld the Court of Appeals' decision to invalidate the search warrants issued for the activists. This decision denies the petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, which sought to challenge the appellate court's 2022 ruling that nullified the search warrant.

The search warrants have been used to arrest Nasino, Ram Carlo Bautista and Alma Moran in 2019.

In denying the OSG’s petition, the SC said that search warrant must specifically describe the place to be searched and items to be seized.

“The purpose of this specificity is to ensure that law enforcement officers have no discretion as to where they search and what they seize. Only those places named in the warrant should be searched, and those things listed should be seized,” the SC’s resolution read.

The warrants used against Nasino and her companions were intended for Barangay 183 in Tondo, Manila, but they were executed in Barangay 178, according to the high court.

Affirming with the ruling of the CA, the SC said that the search warrants lacked specificity as it is only addressed to Bautista. The high court pointed out that the officers also subjected Nasino and Moran in the search.

“These facts alone invite abuse of discretion on the part of the law enforcers and thereby circumventing the purpose of the specificity requirement of a search warrant,” the SC said. 

“Hence, it is clear from the foregoing that the latter's right against unreasonable searches and seizures was clearly violated,” it added.

Nasino and her companions were apprehended during a search at the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan office on Nov. 5, 2019.

During the search, the authorities claimed that they discovered firearms and explosives in the office. However, the activists said that the police planted the evidence. 

In 2022, Nasino and her companions were freed from custody following the approval of their bail petition by Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47 where they posted bail totaling P282,000 for their