MANILA – The Court of Appeals (CA) upheld a petition filed by an American national questioning his arrest at the airport in 2018 on supposed charges of trafficking in persons.
In a resolution dated Oct. 17, the appellate court affirmed its earlier ruling for expatriate Antonio F. Bounab who was arrested without a warrant at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in 2018.
“Petitioner (Bounab)’s act of merely standing with his luggage in the departure area of NAIA Terminal 1, even if he introduced himself to the victim, is not sufficient to incite suspicion of criminal activity or to create probable cause enough to justify a warrantless arrest,” the court said.
Court records showed that n May 15, 2018, the Philippine National Police - Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) officials received a referral letter from the United States Homeland Security Investigations office in Manila, requesting for assistance to investigate Bounab who was allegedly engaged in sexual explicit conversations through Facebook messenger with female minors in the Philippines.
Bounab had supposedly expressed his plans to engage in sexual activities with the minors upon his arrival in the Philippines.
The HSI informed WCPC that Bounab is planning to travel to the Philippines on May 17, 2018 via Asiana Airlines flight no. OZ701.
The police then rescued the intended victim from her residence in Caloocan City before the minor could meet with Bounab upon his arrival in the Philippines.
In ruling against the arrest, the court noted that the statute or rule which allows exceptions to the requirement of warrants of arrest is strictly construed.
“We cannot liberally construe the rule on arrests without warrant or extend its application beyond the cases specifically provided by law. To do so would infringe upon personal liberty and set back a basic right so often violated and so deserving of full protection,” the court said. (PNA)
