Case Summary (G.R. No. 197818)
Factual Background
The prosecution narrated that a confidential informant reported appellant’s illegal drug trade to PS-10, Manila Police District. A buy-bust team was then formed, with PO2 Arthuro Coronel as the poseur-buyer, and PO3 Edgar Lacson, PO1 Ramil Carel, and PO1 Richard Sibayan as back-ups. The buy-bust team marked three pieces of 100-peso bills with the initials AC1–AC3, and prepared a Pre-Operation Report and Coordination Sheet, which was sent to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
At around 4:00 a.m. the next day, the team and the informant proceeded to Kahilum I, Pandacan, Manila, on board three vehicles. From a distance, the team saw appellant chatting with a male companion. The informant and PO2 Coronel approached appellant after he was left alone. The informant introduced PO2 Coronel as a buyer of shabu. Appellant responded that he had available shabu, saying “mayroon.” PO2 Coronel then gave appellant the marked 100-peso bills, and appellant delivered a small plastic sachet containing white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu. When PO2 Coronel made the pre-arranged signal, the team arrested appellant immediately. After appellant was informed of his constitutional rights, he was taken to the police station and turned over to the investigator.
At the station, PO2 Coronel marked the sachet containing the suspected shabu as ARD-1, with appellant’s initials present during the marking. A request was then prepared for laboratory examination by Police Senior Inspector Peter L. Nerviza, and the specimen weighing 0.018 gram later tested positive for methylamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) under Chemistry Report No. D-725-08.
Appellant denied the transaction. He claimed that between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. of August 1, 2008, he was walking home and was arrested suddenly by policemen, supposedly for verification. He stated that he did not know the arresting officers’ names. He further said that after being brought to the police station and then to an inquest prosecutor in the City Hall of Manila, he learned for the first time that he was being charged under R.A. No. 9165.
Trial Court Proceedings
After trial, the RTC convicted appellant of violation of Section 5, Article II of R.A. No. 9165 and sentenced him to life imprisonment, with a fine of P500,000.00 and no subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, plus costs. The RTC found the prosecution evidence sufficient to establish beyond reasonable doubt that a sale of shabu occurred and that appellant was the buyer-seller participant in that transaction.
Appellate Review and Issues Raised
On appeal, appellant argued to the CA that the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt because the police did not comply with statutory requirements on handling the seized drug, specifically the alleged failure to mark, conduct physical inventory, and photograph the seized item in the presence of the persons enumerated under Section 21(1), Article II of R.A. No. 9165.
The CA affirmed the RTC in toto. It held that appellant’s guilt was established to a moral certainty. It also found no doubt that the shabu presented in court was the same shabu seized from appellant, reasoning that the prosecution established an unbroken chain of custody.
Parties’ Contentions Before the Supreme Court
In the Supreme Court, appellant essentially shifted to challenges on credibility and compliance with the statutory custody procedure. He assailed the lower courts’ assessment of the credibility of prosecution witness PO2 Coronel and argued that the courts granted undue weight to PO2 Coronel’s testimony over appellant’s denial. Appellant also contended that the prosecution’s failure to comply with the requirements of proper marking, inventory, and taking of photograph under Section 21(1), Article II of R.A. No. 9165 should have weakened the prosecution case.
The prosecution, through the lower courts’ findings, maintained that the prosecution established appellant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and that the custody and evidentiary links remained intact.
Supreme Court’s Evaluation of Credibility and Proof
The Court held that the appeal lacked merit. It reiterated that prosecutions involving illegal drugs depend largely on the credibility of the police officers who executed the buy-bust operation. It emphasized that factual findings of the trial court and assessments on credibility are accorded respect when no glaring errors, gross misapprehension of facts, or speculative and unsupported conclusions appear. This rule applied with even more stringency because the CA had sustained the RTC’s findings.
The Court examined the records and found PO2 Coronel’s testimony credible. It found that PO2 Coronel’s narration was supported by documentary evidence such as the marked buy-bust money, the chemistry report, the affidavit of arrest, among others, which collectively established that a sale of shabu took place between PO2 Coronel and appellant. The Court also held that appellant’s defense of denial, while raised, was self-serving and unsubstantiated, thus carrying little weight in law.
Objections to Section 21(1) Requirements and Chain of Custody
Appellant argued that the police did not properly comply with the requirements on marking, inventory, and photograph of the seized specimen. The Court, however, noted a procedural point that undermined appellant’s argument: appellant failed to contest the admissibility of the seized item during trial. The Court stated that objection to the admissibility of evidence cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. It relied on jurisprudence in People v. Domado, citing People v. Hernandez, to the effect that when a party desires the court to reject evidence offered, the party must object in the appropriate manner at the time of presentation; otherwise, the issue cannot be raised for the first time at the appellate level.
Further, the Court reiterated that even if statutory requirements under Section 21 were not faithfully observed, an accused may still be convicted if the chain of custody remained unbroken. The Court found that the prosecution had established the necessary links from the moment the sachet was seized from appellant up to the time it was presented during trial. It agreed with the CA’s factual findings that the prosecution evidence showed continuity in custody and identification.
The Court quoted and adopted the CA’s reasoning that PO2 Coronel marked the confiscated sachet at the police station and in the presence of appellant and the duty investigator. PO2 Coronel explained that marking at the station, rather than at the scene, was justified because the place of transaction was dark. The sach
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Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 197818)
- The People of the Philippines appealed to the Supreme Court through a final recourse challenging the February 11, 2011 Decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 04206.
- The CA decision affirmed in toto the November 5, 2009 Decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 2, Manila in Criminal Case No. 08-263032.
- The RTC convicted Allan Diaz y Roxas of violation of Section 5, Article II of R.A. No. 9165 for illegal sale of shabu.
- The Supreme Court reviewed whether the conviction and related evidentiary findings were supported by proof beyond reasonable doubt and whether any alleged lapses in Section 21(1), Article II of R.A. No. 9165 required acquittal.
Parties and Procedural Posture
- Allan Diaz y Roxas was the accused-appellant before the CA and the appellant in this Supreme Court proceeding.
- The CA served as the reviewing court and affirmed the RTC conviction.
- The Supreme Court treated the CA’s affirmance as warranting deference to the trial court’s credibility assessments, absent a showing of glaring error or gross misapprehension.
- The Supreme Court ultimately affirmed the CA decision but modified the judgment to reflect a parole ineligibility condition.
Key Factual Allegations
- The Information dated August 7, 2008 charged appellant with illegal sale of shabu on or about August 2, 2008 in the City of Manila.
- The Information alleged that appellant, not authorized by law, sold or offered for sale one heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet marked ARD-1 containing 0.018 gram of white crystalline substance identified as shabu or methylamphetamine hydrochloride.
- Appellant pleaded not guilty on August 22, 2008 and sought bail, which the RTC denied on November 17, 2008 for lack of merit.
Prosecution Evidence Summary
- The prosecution presented a buy-bust operation initiated after a confidential informant reported appellant’s alleged illegal drug trade activities in Kahilum I, Pandacan, Manila.
- At around 10:00 p.m. on August 1, 2008, a buy-bust team was formed with PO2 Arthuro Coronel as poseur-buyer and with PO3 Edgar Lacson, PO1 Ramil Carel, and PO1 Richard Sibayan as back-ups.
- The buy-bust team received three pieces of 100-peso bills, which PO2 Coronel marked with the initials AC1-AC3, and the operation documentation included a Pre-Operation Report and Coordination Sheet sent to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
- At about 4:00 a.m. the next day, the team and the informant proceeded to the target area using three vehicles, and they observed appellant chatting with a male companion.
- The informant and PO2 Coronel approached appellant when he was alone, and the informant introduced PO2 Coronel as a buyer of shabu.
- Appellant informed them he had available shabu by saying “ma mayroon”, whereupon PO2 Coronel gave the pre-marked money and appellant handed over a small plastic sachet with white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu.
- After the pre-arranged signal was made, the team arrested appellant, and after advising him of constitutional rights, they brought him to the police station and turned him over to the investigator.
- At the police station, PO2 Coronel marked the seized plastic sachet as ARD-1, using the initials of appellant.
- A request for laboratory examination followed, and the specimen weighing 0.018 gram tested positive for methylamphetamine hydrochloride per Chemistry Report No. D-725-08.
Defense Version
- Appellant denied participation and claimed he was walking home between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on August 1, 2008 when policemen allegedly arrested him for “verification purposes only.”
- Appellant stated that he did not know the names of the policemen who arrested him.
- Appellant asserted that after being brought to a police station and then to an inquest prosecutor, he first learned he was being charged under R.A. No. 9165.
- The Supreme Court characterized the defense of denial as self-serving and lacking substantiation.
Trial Court Findings
- The RTC found appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt for illegal sale of shabu under Section 5, Article II of R.A. No. 9165.
- The RTC imposed life imprisonment and ordered fine of P500,000.00 without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, plus the costs.
- The RTC gave weight to the prosecution’s narrative of the buy-bust transaction and relied on the credibility of the police officer who conducted i