Case Digest (G.R. No. 240596)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Novo Tanes y Belmonte, G.R. No. 240596, April 03, 2019, Second Division, Caguioa, J., writing for the Court.
The case arose from an Information filed on April 6, 2011 in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 23, General Santos City (Crim. Case No. 22306), charging Novo Tanes y Belmonte with violation of Section 5, Article II of R.A. 9165 for the alleged sale of methamphetamine hydrochloride on December 14, 2010. Tanes pleaded not guilty and subsequently filed a Petition for Bail on April 10, 2015. The RTC conducted bail hearings on October 7, 2015, November 4, 2015, and February 3, 2017.
On March 31, 2017, Judge Dennis A. Velasco of the RTC granted bail in the amount of PHP200,000, finding that the prosecution’s evidence was not strong because the chain of custody in the buy‑bust operation appeared broken: a Department of Justice representative was absent, and the media representative and elected official allegedly only signed the inventory after the operation rather than witnessing the seizure, with no clear photographs proving the inventory was taken in the presence of the accused and the witnesses. The RTC expressly relied on jurisprudence, particularly People v. Jehar Reyes, in assessing the three‑witness rule.
The People moved for reconsideration, which the RTC denied in an order dated June 27, 2017. The People then petitioned the Court of Appeals (CA) by certiorari (CA‑G.R. SP No. 08305‑MIN). The CA, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Oscar V. Badelles with Justices Romulo V. Borja and Tita Marilyn Payoyo‑Villordon concurring, dismissed the petition on February 21, 2018, affirming the RTC’s factual findings and its conclusion that the chain of custody was compromised; the CA also denied the People’s motion for reconsideration on July 11, 2018.
The People filed a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 to the Supreme Court, assailing the CA’s affirmation of the RTC’s grant of bail and contending that Section 21 of ...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals err in affirming the RTC’s order granting bail to Novo Tanes y Belmonte...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)