FACTS:
Respondent POEA administrator issued a closure and seizure order against petitioner who was charged with illegal recruitment.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not the Secretary of Labor may validly issue warrants of arrest and seizure under Article 38 of the Labor Code.
HELD:
NO. The Secretary of Labor, not being a judge, may no longer issue search or arrest warrants. The power of the President to order the arrest of aliens for deportation is, obviously, exceptional. It (the power to order arrests) can not be made to extend to other cases, like the one at bar. Under the Constitution, it is the sole domain of the courts.
