Tuesday, May 20, 2008 NFA, NBI can inspect rice warehouses sans warrant: DOJ
THE Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday upheld the authority of the National Food Authority (NFA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to inspect rice warehouses and seize hoarded rice without a search and seizure warrant from the courts.
In a legal opinion, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. said the state-owned grains agency may also order the resale of rice found under circumstances constituting hoarding, under Presidential Decree (PD) 4, precursor of the National Grains Authority, now known as the NFA.
Gonzalez said under its implementing rules and regulations, the NFA is expressly vested with authority to inspect and take records of rice stocks, and to enter the premises of warehouses for said purpose even without a judicial warrant.
"Considering the constitutional provision against unreasonable searches and seizures, the general rule is that a judicial warrant should be procured, under Republic Act 7581 (Consumer Protection Act), judicial warrant may be procured through summary proceedings initiated by the implementing agency. However, not all searches and seizures need judicial warrant. There are certain instances where warrantless searches may legally be made, and not every warrantless search or seizure is forbidden," he said.
The DOJ said there are instances where the NFA and the NBI may dispense with the requirement of procuring a search warrant.
"The primordial rule remains that there must be probable cause, which for purposes of search and seizure, would mean such facts and circumstances as would lead a reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe that an offense has been committed and that the objects sought in connection with the offense are in the place to be searched," he added.
According to the DOJ, a search and seizure warrant is not necessary when the search and seizure is incidental to a lawful arrest, or is contemporaneous with an arrest.
Gonzalez said in the course of an inspection, it is possible for the NFA and the NBI to justifiably seize hoarded rice under circumstances warranting the application of the "plain view" doctrine.
Meanwhile, the DOJ, in the same opinion, also defined what is hoarding and also stressed that the NBI, by virtue of its memorandum of agreement dated April 1, 2008, is deputized by the NFA to assist in the implementation of PD 4 against hoarding, inspect warehouses and to file criminal cases against violators.
Based on the Revised Rules and Regulations on Grains Business, there shall be prima facie evidence of hoarding when a person has actual stocks, which are 50 percent higher than his usual inventory and there is unreasonable refusal or failure to sell the said stocks to the general public.
The determination of a person's usual inventory shall be reckoned from the third month immediately preceding the discovery of the stocks in case the person has been engaged in the business for at least three months, otherwise it shall be reckoned from the time he started his business.
Gonzalez added that possessing rice stocks without a license from the NFA will also point to rice hoarding.
Thus, there can be no excuse for traders to have rice stocks in his possession if he has not been authorized to maintain such stocks, much less an inventory of it.
"Thus, a person's actual possession of rice stocks without the necessary NFA authority should logically merit probable cause to believe the person is committing the offense of rice hoarding under PD 4, as amended, and should be arrested therefore," he added.
"The sale of seized basic necessities to the general public is authorized when the nature of the goods so requires or when there existing such conditions warranting immediate disposition," Gonzalez explained.
The proceeds of the sale shall then be held by the NFA in trust or escrow, to be disposed of depending upon whether or not the alleged violator is ultimately found in liable for the violation, he said.
The DOJ's legal opinion stemmed from the query sought by NFA administrator Jessup Navarro seeking guidance on whether the food agency may validly exercise its powers to inspect warehouses and to order the seizure and resale of hoarded rice to the public while the criminal case filed against the suspected traders is still pending.
The NBI's Anti-Rice Hoarding Task Force has so far inspected 128 rice warehouses nationwide, but only seven have been charged in court. (ECV/Sunnex)
