Case Digest (G.R. No. 258328)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Jose Vastine y Gibson @ Jimmy, G.R. No. 258328, November 29, 2022, Supreme Court First Division, Zalameda, J., writing for the Court.The prosecution (the People of the Philippines) charged accused-appellant Jose Vastine y Gibson (also referred to as “accused-appellant” or “Vastine”), together with co-accused Albert Joaquin Ong and Edilberto Ty, in multiple Informations for violation of Sections 5 and 15, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165 (the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002). The charges arose from a buy-bust operation conducted on 1 August 2011 at Market! Market! Mall, Taguig City, alleging sale of approximately two kilograms of cocaine and illegal use of dangerous drugs.
According to the prosecution, a confidential informant tip in July 2011 led Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operation Task Force officers to conduct a buy-bust on 1 August 2011. PO3 Ernesto A. Mabanglo acted as the poseur buyer and, after negotiating with the driver identified as accused-appellant, opened a plastic bag handed by the rear occupants (later identified as Ong and Ty) and found two bricks wrapped in brown tape. Mabanglo handed the buy-bust money, gave the pre-arranged signal, and the arrest team effected arrests. The seized items were marked “EAM-08/01/2011” by PO3 Mabanglo, turned over to Senior PO1 Enrico Calva who conducted an inventory in the presence of several witnesses (including a media representative and barangay officials), and then brought to the crime laboratory where PCI Jocelyn B. Julian tested and reported the items positive for cocaine (combined weight 2,000.71 grams). Urinalysis showed Vastine positive for marijuana; Ong positive for methamphetamine and marijuana; Ty negative.
Vastine’s defense was that on 1 August 2011 he went to Market! Market! to help a friend allegedly being extorted, that he was grabbed by persons who later identified themselves as police, taken to Camp Crame, and that police officers demanded ransom—assertions suggesting a frame-up/extortion. He denied selling drugs and advanced alibi and denial defenses.
At trial, the Regional Trial Court (Branch 267, Taguig City) convicted Vastine, Ong, and Ty on 7 August 2018: for Illegal Sale (Sec. 5) the RTC sentenced them to life imprisonment and a P500,000 fine; for Illegal Use (Sec. 15) it ordered rehabilitation for Vastine and Ong. The RTC found the chain of custody intact and rejected the defenses as unproven. The defendants appealed to the Court of Appeals.
On 15 July 2020 the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 12043 affirmed with modification as to the fine the conviction of Jose G. Vastine a.k.a. “Jimmy”, increasing the fine to P5,000,000.00, ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals correctly affirm accused-appellant Jose Vastine y Gibson’s convictions for Illegal Sale and Illegal Use of Dangerous Drugs under Sections 5 and 15, Article II of...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)