Pestilos v Generoso
GR No. 182601
FACTS:
In the morning, an altercation ensued between the petitioners and Atty.
Moreno Generoso. Atty. Generoso called the Central Police District,
Station to report the incident. Acting on this report, Desk SPO1
Monsalve dispatched SP02 Javier to go to the scene of the crime and to
render assistance. SP02 Javier, together with augmentation personnel
from the Airforce, A2C Alano Sayson and Airman Ruel Galvez, arrived at
the scene of the crime less than one hour after the alleged
altercation and they saw Atty. Generoso badly beate.
Atty. Generoso then pointed to the petitioners as those who mauled
him. This prompted the police officers to "invite" the petitioners to go
to Batasan Hills Police Station for investigation.
The petitioners went with the police officers to Batasan Hills Police
Station. At the inquest proceeding, the City Prosecutor of Quezon City
found that the petitioners stabbed Atty. Generoso with a bladed
weapon. Atty. Generoso fortunately survived the attack.
The petitioners were indicted for attempted murder
The petitioners primarily argue that they were not lawfully arrested.
No arrest warrant was ever issued; they went to the police station only
as a response to the arresting officers' invitation.
The petitioners also claim that no valid warrantless arrest took place
under the terms of Rule 112, Section 7 of the Revised Rules of Court.
The incident happened two (2) hours before the police officers actually
arrived at the crime scene. The police officers could not have
undertaken a valid warrantless arrest as they had no personal
knowledge that the petitioners were the authors of the crime.
ISSUE:
W/N there is valid warrantless arrest
RULING:
Yes.The court held that petitioners were validly arrest without
warrant. The requirements of a warrantless arrest are now
summarized in Rule 113, Section 5 which states that: A peace officer or
a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person:
(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is
actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
(b) When an offense has just been committed, and he has probable
cause to believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances
that the person to be arrested has committed it; and
(c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from
a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or is
temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while
being transferred from one confinement to another.
In cases falling under paragraph (a) and (b) above, the person arrested
without a warrant shall be forth with delivered to the nearest police
station or jail and shall be proceeded against in accordance with section
7 of Rule 112.
A warrantless arrest under the circumstances contemplated under
Section 5(a) above has been denominated as one "in flagrante delicto,"
while that under Section 5(b) has been described as a "hot pursuit"
arrest.
Section 5(b), Rule 113 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure
provides that:
When an offense has just been committed, and he has probable cause to
believe based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the it is reasonable to conclude that the police officers had personal
person to be arrested has committed it. knowledge of the facts and circumstances justifying the petitioners
warrantless arrests.
The elements under Section 5(b), Rule 113 of the Revised Rules of
Criminal Procedure are: first, an offense has just been committed; and Hence, the petitioners were validly arrested and the subsequent
second, the arresting officer has probable cause to believe based on inquest proceeding was likewise appropriate.
personal knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to be
arrested has committed it.

The Court's appreciation of the elements that "the offense has just been
committed" and ''personal knowledge of facts and circumstances that
the person to be arrested committed it" depended on the particular
circumstances of the case. The element of ''personal knowledge of facts
or circumstances", however, under Section 5(b), Rule 113 of the
Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure requires clarification.
Circumstances may pertain to events or actions within the actual
perception, personal evaluation or observation of the police officer at
the scene of the crime. Thus, even though the police officer has not seen
someone actually fleeing, he could still make a warrantless arrest if,
based on his personal evaluation of the circumstances at the scene of
the crime, he could determine the existence of probable cause that the
person sought to be arrested has committed the crime.

However, the determination of probable cause and the gathering of

facts or circumstances should be made immediately after the
commission of the crime in order to comply with the element of
immediacy. In other words, the clincher in the element of ''personal
knowledge of facts or circumstances" is the required element of
immediacy within which these facts or circumstances should be
gathered.

With the facts and circumstances of the case at bar that the police
officers gathered and which they have personally observed less than
one hour from the time that they have arrived at the scene of the crime,