Case Digest (G.R. No. 225709)
Facts:
Jasper Gonzalez y Dolendo, petitioner, v. People of the Philippines, respondent, G.R. No. 225709, February 14, 2018, Supreme Court Second Division, Perlas-Bernabe, J., writing for the Court.This case arose from two Informations filed in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Valenzuela City, Branch 269: Criminal Case No. 173-V-12 charging petitioner with violation of Section 261(p)(q) of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), as amended by Section 32 of Republic Act No. 7166 (RA 7166); and Criminal Case No. 174-V-12 charging him with possession of illegal drugs under Section 11, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165 (RA 9165). The complaints stemmed from events of February 23, 2012 during the election prohibition period under a COMELEC resolution for a plebiscite in Valenzuela City.
According to the prosecution, police operatives conducting an anti-illegal drug operation saw Gonzalez emerge from an alley around 3:30–4:00 a.m. holding a fan knife (balisong), chased and arrested him, recovered the knife and, on frisking, found a heat-sealed sachet containing methamphetamine hydrochloride and other paraphernalia; the seized items were inventoried and later tested positive. Gonzalez testified he was arrested inside his house at about 3:00 a.m. by four males who tied his hands with his wife’s brassiere, showed him a sachet of shabu, took a knife that had been on a table, photographed him, and transported him away; three neighbor witnesses corroborated material aspects of this version.
The RTC, in a Decision dated January 6, 2014, convicted Gonzalez of violating Section 261(q) of the OEC (Crim. Case No. 173-V-12) but acquitted him on the drug charge (Crim. Case No. 174-V-12) for insufficiency of proof as to preservation/chain of custody. Gonzalez appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA), which affirmed in a Decision dated August 7, 2015 and denie...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether petitioner’s conviction for violating Section 261(p)(q) of the Omnibus Election Code, as amended by Section 32 of RA 7166, should be up...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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