DOJ Opinion No. 198, s. 1982

DOJ OPINION NO. 198 , s. 1982 3rd Indorsement September 1, 1982 Respectfully returned to the Acting Chairman, National Police Commission, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, his within request for opinion "on whether or not members of the Integrated National Police are authorized to arrest or apprehend persons possessing or selling smuggled blue seal cigarettes and other contraband articles." LibLex The Commission is of the belief that "policemen are authorized to arrest or apprehend persons possessing or selling smuggled blue seal cigarettes and other contraband articles, since such acts constitute infractions or violations of law". However, this view differs from those of the Western Police District, Metropolitan Police Force which questions the legal propriety of such arrest inasmuch as "the possession and sale of [the aforementioned items] are violations of the Internal Revenue Code, the implementation and enforcement of which resides solely on the Bureau of Internal Revenue" and of the City Fiscal of Manila who holds that "the police is not vested with the power to arrest violators of the National Internal Revenue Code unless accompanied by bona fide agents of the Bureau of Internal Revenue". Hence, the request for "a more authoritative guidance on the matter." Subject to the extended discussion herein below set forth, we subscribe to the view of your Commission. The pertinent provisions of law are section 7 of the Police Act of 1966 (Rep. Act No. 4864, as amended) and Section 2 of P.D. No. 765 which, respectively, provide: "SEC. 7. Duties of Peace Officers . All members of the police agency shall be peace officers. It shall be their duty to preserve peace and order; prevent the commission of crimes; protect life; liberty and property; and arrest all violators and laws and ordinances within their jurisdiction. They shall exercise the general powers to make arrest, searches and seizures in accordance with law. They shall detain an arrested person only within the period prescribed by law." (R.A. No. 4864) "Section 2. Jurisdiction of the Integrated National Police . The Integrated National Police shall responsible for public safety, protection of lives and properties, enforcement of laws and maintenance of peace and order within the territorial limits of the Philippines. It shall have the power to prevent crimes, effect the arrest of criminal offenders and provide for their detention and rehabilitation, take necessary measures to prevent and control fires, investigate the commission of all crimes and offenses and bring the offenders of justice, and take all necessary steps to insure public safety." (P.D. 765) It may be noted that the aforequoted provisions of Republic Act No. 4864 and P.D. 765 contain no restricting exception or qualification as to the responsibility of police officers in the enforcement of laws and as to their authority to prevent crimes and to arrest "all violators of laws" or "criminal offenders". Earlier, this Office and ruled that the provision of Section 2 of P.D. 765 has invested the INP with primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of crimes and the apprehension and detention of offenders throughout the country. (Opinion No. 198, s. 1978). Of particular relevance to the case at bar is the City Charter of Manila, which provides that the City Chief of Police "shall arrest and prosecute violators of any law and ordinances" (sec. 34, RA 409, as amended) and that all officers and members of the city police force "are authorized . . . to pursue and arrest, without warrant, any person found in suspicious places or under suspicious circumstances reasonably tending to show such person has committed, or is about to commit, any crime or breach of peace" and "to arrest or cause to be arrested, without warrant any offender when the offense is committed in the presence of the peace officer or within his view." (Sec. 37, Idem ) Again, we note that the police authority vested by the City Charter of Manila is free of any restricting or qualifying clauses insofar as the crime or offense involved is concerned. LexLib It is a basic rule in statutory construction that where the meaning of a statute is clear and explicit, words cannot be interpolated since in that case the primary source of the legislative intent is in the language of the statute. (Crawford, Statutory Construction, p. 270 " . . . we must first look to the specific language of the law, and if this language is plain and unambiguous on its face, susceptible of but one construction, we may not go beyond it." (State vs. Borah, 76 P 2d 757). "A statute which within itself is clear should be construed as it reads." (Burril National Bank vs. Edminister, 111 A 423). True, the implementation and enforcement of the National Internal Revenue Code is the responsibility of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, But the power or internal revenue agents to seize and arrest, as vested in Section 15 of the said Code, is not exclusively theirs. The aforesaid provision of the National Internal Revenue Code reads: "SEC. 15. Authority of internal-revenue officers to make arrests and seizures . The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Revenue Regional Director, the Revenue District Officers sand other internal revenue officers shall have authority to make arrests and seizures for the violation of any penal law or regulation administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Any person so arrested shall be forthwith carried before a court, there to be dealt with according to law." Had the lawmaker intended to invest the internal revenue agents the sole and exclusive authority to enforce any penal law or regulation administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the statute could have easily said so, as in the case of the authority of police officers to arrest violators of the Tariff and Customs Code, which provides that police officers may effect arrest and seizures in the enforcement of said Code only "when acting under the direction of the Collector [of Customs]," (Sec. 2203 [d], Ex. Order No. 688, dated May 9, 1981, otherwise called the Tariff and Customs Code of 1982.) Another such instance is the case of the Export Processing Zone Authority which is empowered by law "to exercise exclusive jurisdiction and sole police authority over all areas owned or administered by the Authority." (Sec. 4 [h], P.D. No. 66, as amended). LexLib Wherefore, we reiterate our view that members of the Integrated National Police are empowered to effect the arrest or apprehension of persons caught or found in the possession of smuggled cigarettes and other contraband articles. Please be guided accordingly. Very truly yours, (SGD.) RICARDO C. PUNO Minister of Justice