Title
People vs. Royol y Asico
Case
G.R. No. 224297
Decision Date
Feb 13, 2019
Garbage collector acquitted due to prosecution's failure to comply with chain of custody requirements in drug sale case, casting doubt on evidence integrity.
drug case
acquittal
chain of custody requirements
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-16384)

Factual Background

On November 27, 2007, a confidential informant allegedly reported to the Tarlac Provincial Police Office in Camp Makabulos that Royol was selling illegal drugs in Barangay Lourdes, Bamban. The informant was purportedly due to meet Royol that morning with PO2 Baquiran designated as the poseur-buyer. A buy-bust team was then formed with PO2 Baquiran as poseur-buyer, and Inspector Silva, PO1 Francis Capinding, and PO2 Soriano as arresting officers, supported by four additional team members.

The team proceeded to the bridge in Barangay Lourdes, the supposed meeting place. Royol arrived about twenty minutes after PO2 Baquiran positioned himself. PO2 Baquiran allegedly showed Royol two marked P500.00 bills and communicated his plan to purchase half a kilogram of marijuana. Royol allegedly exchanged half a brick of marijuana for the marked bills. After the exchange, PO2 Baquiran allegedly scratched his head as the agreed signal. Upon receipt of the signal, the other members rushed to arrest Royol, who allegedly chased and was soon apprehended by Inspector Silva and PO2 Soriano. Royol was brought to the Tarlac Provincial Police Office.

Thereafter, the marijuana was allegedly marked at the police office. PO2 Baquiran then personally brought the marijuana to the Tarlac Provincial Crime Laboratory Office. There, Police Inspector Jebie C. Timario allegedly examined the substance and it tested positive for marijuana.

Royol, for his part, testified that on the morning in question he was collecting garbage when two men approached him and asked if he knew a person named Edgardo Saguisag. He claimed he denied knowing the person and the men left. A few minutes later, the same men returned with two teenagers who pointed to him as Saguisag. He testified that he was ordered to raise his hands, was handcuffed, and was made to lie face down. He claimed the men searched his pockets and took P140.00, then compelled him to board a red car and brought him to Makabulos. He further testified that he was shown marijuana and asked if it was his, which he denied.

Trial Court Proceedings

In a five-page Decision dated December 13, 2010, the Regional Trial Court found Royol guilty of violating Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9165. It imposed the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P500,000.00. The trial court’s finding of guilt was based on the prosecution’s evidence of the buy-bust transaction and the alleged chemical confirmation of the seized drug.

Court of Appeals Proceedings

On May 8, 2015, the Court of Appeals affirmed the Regional Trial Court’s conviction in toto. Royol subsequently filed his notice of appeal to the Supreme Court, contending, in substance, that the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Issue for Resolution

The Supreme Court framed the issue as whether the prosecution established Royol’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt for violation of Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9165, considering that prosecutions for illegal sale require proof of the sale transaction and presentation of the corpus delicti, and that the integrity of the seized drugs must be preserved through strict adherence to the statutory chain of custody in Section 21.

Applicable Legal Framework on Illegal Sale and Chain of Custody

The Supreme Court reiterated the settled elements in illegal sale cases: (1) proof that the transaction of sale took place and (2) presentation in court of the corpus delicti or the illicit drug as evidence, citing People v. Morales.

It then emphasized that, in buy-bust and other drug prosecutions, Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165 prescribes specific requirements governing custody and disposition of seized drugs and related paraphernalia. As amended, Section 21 requires that, immediately after seizure and confiscation, the apprehending team conduct a physical inventory and photograph the seized items in the presence of the accused (or representative/counsel), and an elected public official and a representative of the National Prosecution Service or a representative of the media, along with signature and copy requirements.

Jurisprudence further articulated the links to be established in the chain of custody, as explained in People v. Nandi—from seizure and marking by the apprehending officer, to turnover to the investigating officer, to turnover to the forensic chemist, and finally to submission to the court. Compliance, the Court noted, safeguards the evidence’s identity, nature, quantity, relevance to the incident, and relation to the accused, and forecloses opportunities for switching, contamination, or tampering.

The Court stressed that noncompliance with Section 21(1) results in a concomitant failure to establish the identity of the corpus delicti, thereby producing grave doubt as to the origins of the seized drug. It explained that conviction cannot rest on presumptions or approximations of compliance, and that the constitutional standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt requires moral certainty.

The Supreme Court’s Findings on Noncompliance

The Supreme Court held that Royol’s conviction could not be sustained because the prosecution failed to satisfy the requirements of Section 21(1), both in their alleged execution and in their evidentiary accounting.

First, the Court found that there was no semblance of compliance with the statutory demands of Section 21(1). It observed that neither PO2 Baquiran nor Inspector Silva testified on the conduct of a proper physical inventory and photographing of the seized marijuana immediately after seizure and confiscation, as required by law. The prosecution’s assertions were treated as insufficiently supported because the record showed only a “bare claim” that the marijuana was marked at the Tarlac Provincial Police Office. The Court reiterated jurisprudence that marking alone does not substitute for the statutory requirement of physical inventory and photographing conducted under the specified conditions and witness presence requirements.

Second, the Court identified a critical evidentiary failure regarding the presence of required third-party witnesses during the inventory and photographing. It held that the prosecution did not account for the presence of even one of the persons mandated by Section 21(1). It specifically found the absence of an elected public official and the absence of a representative of the National Prosecution Service, with no showing that a media representative was present in their stead. The Court also noted that the prosecution did not even maintain that the accused himself was present during the inventory and photographing.

Third, the Court found that the statutory guarantee meant to insulate the evidence from doubt was missing. It characterized the prosecution’s case as leaving the Court with no objective guarantee on the integrity of the marijuana allegedly obtained from Royol. The prosecution allegedly relied heavily on self-serving assurances of police officers regarding how the evidence was handled and transferred, without the statutory procedural safeguards designed to prevent planting, substitution, or contamination.

Fourth, the Court considered the prosecution’s failure to establish guarantees even from marking through chemical examination. It noted that the prosecution placed reliance on PO2 Baquiran’s recollection regarding his personal transfer of the marijuana to the crime laboratory, rather than showing compliance with the statutory procedures that would ensure evidentiary integrity from seizure to court presentation.

Justifiable Grounds for Deviations Were Not Shown

The Supreme Court further held that even if Section 21(1) allows deviations under justifiable grounds, the prosecution never accounted for any such justifiable ground. It invoked the requirement, recognized in cases such as People v. Lim and consistent with People v. Que, that the prosecution must specifically allege, identify, and prove justifiable grounds and must also demonstrate that, despite noncompliance, the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized drugs were preserved through positive steps. The Court ruled that the prosecution’s evidence did not satisfy either requisite.

It rejected the notion that generalized claims or assurances could cure the statutory lapses. It noted that the prosecution’s omissions directly undermined proof of corpus delicti, which is essential to conviction for illegal sale and illegal possession alike.

Rejection of Presumption of Regularity

The Supreme Court declared that the lower courts’ reliance on the presumption of regularity was a grave error. It explained that in drugs cases, when police fail to comply with the objective statutory mandates of Section 21, the prosecution cannot benefit from presumptions of regularity. The Court held that a presumption applies only when officers have shown compliance with the standard conduct of official duty required by law, and it cannot arise when the irregularity is manifest on the face of the record.

Thus, it ruled that, given th

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