Title
People vs. Li Ka Kim
Case
G.R. No. 148586
Decision Date
May 25, 2004
A Chinese tourist, Li Ka Kim, was convicted of selling 994.773 grams of shabu in a buy-bust operation. The Supreme Court affirmed his guilt but reduced the penalty to life imprisonment due to improper allegation of aggravating circumstances.
methamphetamine hydrochloride
shabu
death penalty
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 148586)

Factual Background

The prosecution traced the buy-bust operation to a report received at six o’clock in the morning of September 19, 1999 by the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID) of the Philippine National Police, Region IV Office at Camp Vicente Lim, Calamba, Laguna. The informer, Boy, reported that a drug dealer known as alias Ed, operating in the southern part of Metro Manila, was looking for a buyer of shabu. At seven-thirty that morning, PO2 Christian Trambulo placed an initial contact with Ed through a phone call using Boy’s cellular phone. Boy introduced Trambulo to Ed as “Rollie,” a shabu buyer. The parties agreed to meet at the parking space of McDonalds at Uniwide Coastal Mall in Paranaque City between four o’clock and five-thirty in the afternoon, where Ed would deliver a kilo of shabu and Trambulo would pay P400,000.00.

Before the meeting, P/Chief Inspector Julius Caesar Mana instructed Trambulo to act as poseur-buyer and provided him with P4,000.00 in four genuine P1,000.00 bills arranged to make it appear to match the agreed P400,000.00 in “boodle money.” At the agreed time, Trambulo waited with sixteen (16) other RIID officers. He observed a red Honda Civic passing repeatedly. Eventually, a Chinese-looking man alighted from the driver’s side. Boy introduced Trambulo to appellant, who introduced himself as “Ed” and spoke in broken Tagalog. Appellant gave Trambulo a brown paper bag containing a white crystalline substance wrapped in a Christmas wrapper. After Trambulo examined and pinched the substance to test its crispness, Trambulo handed over the buy-bust money. When appellant reached for the money, Trambulo informed him that he was a police officer. Police Inspector Emerito Estrada informed appellant of his constitutional rights. Appellant was arrested, and the boodle money was recovered.

At trial, Trambulo identified appellant as the seller and positively identified the brown paper bag appellant had given to him as containing the prohibited drug, which Trambulo marked CVT (his initials).

Defense and Trial Court’s Findings

Appellant presented a different account through an interpreter. He claimed he was Chinese, jobless, born in Fookien, China, and unable to speak English or Filipino. He said he entered the Philippines on a tourist visa on May 13, 1999, invited by a friend, Tan Eng Hong. He stated that he stayed with Tan Eng Hong at Room 1003, Gotesco Building, Manila, until September 19, 1999, and denied being in Southern Tagalog.

Appellant testified that on September 19, 1999, between two to three o’clock in the afternoon, he and Tan Eng Hong went out, took a ride toward the airport, and Tan Eng Hong entered the mall while appellant waited, smoking. Appellant said five persons accosted him and, at gunpoint, forced him into the car. He stated they went to the mall and later to a gasoline station where he was frisked and found to have only a pack of cigarettes. He claimed he heard someone say “wala” and that he was slapped. He said he was asked questions he did not understand. He claimed that at the police station, a Chinese woman told him that if he could produce P1,000,000.00 and give it to the police officers, he would be allowed to go home. He denied that Trambulo was introduced to him by Boy, whom he said he did not know.

The trial court rejected the defense. It found it difficult to believe that appellant would be singled out by police officers from scores of people at the mall. It also noted that Tan Eng Hong did not testify to corroborate appellant’s story. The trial court further observed that the car and its license plate used by appellant had been stolen. It additionally considered that appellant was an undocumented alien, as shown by a letter dated October 13, 2000 of then Commissioner on Immigration and Deportation Rufus B. Rodriguez to State Prosecutor Reynaldo J. Lugtu. Concluding that the prosecution’s evidence was more credible and had established the crime’s elements, the trial court convicted appellant and decreed the death penalty, treating the use of a motor vehicle as an aggravating circumstance.

Issues Raised on Appeal and Procedural Developments

On appeal, appellant assigned errors challenging both his conviction and the penalty imposed. He contended that the trial court erred in finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt and, assuming guilt, that the trial court erred in imposing death.

Before the case reached final resolution, appellant sought reconsideration through a motion to remand for a new trial dated September 1, 2003, invoking Section 14, Rule 121 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure. He claimed newly discovered evidence, namely his passport, which he said would establish his true identity as Huang Xiao Wei, a Chinese national, and that he had entered the Philippines as a tourist. Appellant anchored the motion on his right to effective counsel, faulting former counsel for failing to secure and present his travel documents.

The Court denied the request, holding that the requisites for newly discovered evidence were not met. It ruled that the passport could have been presented during trial. It further found that the passport would have been of little material value because the prosecution witnesses had positively identified appellant as the perpetrator, and appellant even identified himself at trial as Li Ka Kim rather than Huang Xiao Wei, which the Court viewed as reinforcing deliberate concealment of identity.

The Court’s Assessment of Guilt

On the merits, the Court found the prosecution evidence convincing and sufficient to identify appellant as one engaged in the sale of illegal drugs. It held that Trambulo’s testimony identifying appellant as the seller was categorical and unfabricated. It noted the absence of any ill motive shown that would tarnish the testimony. The Court held that positive evidence of guilt prevailed over appellant’s mere denial and alibi, especially where the defense failed to substantiate them with clear and convincing evidence.

The Court also rejected appellant’s argument that police should have conducted prior surveillance or a test buy before the operation. It held that in prosecutions involving dangerous drugs, it is enough to establish that (one) the accused possessed an item identified as a prohibited or regulated drug; (two) the possession was not authorized by law; and (three) the accused freely and consciously possessed the drug. The Court further ruled that neither prior surveillance of the suspect nor the presentation of the informant was indispensable in drug cases.

The Court emphasized that appellant was caught in flagrante delicto selling 994.773 grams of shabu to the poseur-buyer on the morning of September 19, 1999. Appellant handed over the brown paper bag with the shabu in exchange for P400,000.00 in buy-bust money. After the exchange, he was promptly arrested and informed of his constitutional rights. The Court concluded that all elements of the offense were established. It also gave weight to the trial court’s credibility assessment of the witnesses, noting the appellate deference rule absent any showing that the trial court overlooked facts or misinterpreted evidence.

Legal Basis for Modification of the Penalty

Although the Court affirmed conviction, it found error in the penalty. It invoked Rule 110 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, which requires the recitation in the Information of qualifying and aggravating circumstances for them to be appreciated. The Court held that the trial court’s use of a motor vehicle as an aggravating circumstance was inappropriate because that circumstance had not been aptly alleged in the Information.

The Court grounded its ruling on the text of Section 8, Rule 110 and Section 9, Rule 110, requiring the Information to designate the offense and to specify its qualifying and aggravating circumst

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