G.R. No. 202709, July 03, 2013 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellee, v. ROMEO ONIZA Y ONG AND MERCY ONIZA Y CABARLE, Appellants.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellee, v. ROMEO ONIZA Y ONG AND MERCY ONIZA Y CABARLE, Appellants.
This case is about the need to absolve the accused of the charges against them because of the police officers’ outright failure without any justification to abide by the law governing the conduct of seizure operations involving dangerous drugs.
On June 21, 2004 the Public Prosecutors Office of Rizal filed separate charges of possession of dangerous drugs1 before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Rizal, Branch 2, against the accused spouses Romeo in Criminal Case 7598 and Mercy Oniza in Criminal Case 7599. The prosecution further charged the spouses with selling dangerous drugs in Criminal Case 7600, all allegedly in violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The prosecution and the defense stipulated that the specimens that PO1 Annalee R. Forro, a PNP forensic chemical officer, examined were methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu). They further stipulated, however, that Officer Forro “could not testify on the source and origin of the subject specimens that she had examined.”12 As a result, PO1 Forro did not testify and only her report was adduced by the prosecution as evidence.
Nearly after five years of trial or on April 2, 2009 the RTC rendered a decision18 that found Romeo and Mercy guilty of possession of dangerous drugs in Criminal Cases 7598 and 7599, respectively, and imposed on them both the penalty of imprisonment of 12 years and 1 day to 20 years and a fine of P300,000.00. Further, the trial court found them guilty of selling dangerous drugs in Criminal Case 7600 and imposed on them both the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P500,000.00. The trial court, however, acquitted Valentino of the separate charge of possession of dangerous drugs filed against him in Criminal Case 7597.
On appeal in CA-G.R. CR-HC 04301, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the judgments of conviction against Romeo and Mercy, hence, the present appeal to this Court.
The issue presented in this case is whether or not the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Romeo and Mercy were in possession of and were selling dangerous drugs when the team of police officers arrested them on June 16, 2004.
Compliance with the above, especially the required physical inventory and photograph of the seized drugs in the presence of the accused, the media, and responsible government functionaries, would be clear evidence that the police had carried out a legitimate buy-bust operation. Here, the prosecution was unable to adduce such evidence, indicating that the police officers did not at all comply with prescribed procedures. Worse, they offered no excuse or explanation at the hearing of the case for their blatant omission of what the law required of them.
Still, jurisprudence has established a rare exception with respect to the first required link—immediate seizure and marking of the seized items in the presence of the accused and others20—namely, that (a) there must be justifiable grounds for non-compliance with the procedures; and (b) the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized items are properly preserved.
Here, the prosecution’s own evidence as recited by the CA and the RTC is that the police officers did not make a physical inventory of the seized drugs nor did they take a picture of the same in the presence of the accused, someone in the media, a Department of Justice (DOJ) representative, and any elected public official.
Pros. Gonzales : And after that, what, if any, did you do next?
PO1 Albarico : After arresting them, we brought them to our police station, sir.
Pros. Gonzales : And at the station, Mr. Witness, what happened to the items that you said was [sic] recovered from the possession of accused Romeo?
PO1 Albarico : We have the pieces of evidence blottered, sir.
Pros. Gonzales : And thereafter, what happened to the evidence gathered, Mr. Witness?
PO1 Albarico : PO1 Jiro marked the evidence, sir.
Pros. Gonzales : Mr. Witness, those substance[s] that were marked by PO1 Jiro, what happened to them after the markings?
PO1 Albarico : After marking the pieces of evidence, he turned them over to the Desk Officer and prepared a request for examination and those were brought to Camp Crame for examination, sir.
Pros. Gonzales : If you know, what was the result of the request for examination?
PO1 Albarico : As far as we know, it is positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride, sir.
And what is the prosecution’s evidence that the substances, which the police chemist examined and found to be shabu, were the same substances that the police officers allegedly seized from Romeo and Mercy? No such evidence exists. As pointed out above, the prosecution stipulated with the accused that the police chemist “could not testify on the source and origin of the subject specimens that she had examined.” No police officer testified out of personal knowledge that the substances given to the police chemist and examined by her were the very same substances seized from the accused.
In regard to the required presence of representatives from the DOJ and the media and an elective official, the prosecution also did not bother to offer any justification, even a hollow one, for failing to comply with such requirement. What is more, the police officers could have easily coordinated with any elected barangay official in the conduct of the police operation in the locality.
WHEREFORE, the Court REVERSES and SETS ASIDE the February 23, 2012 Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC 04301, which affirmed the April 2, 2009 Decision of the Regional Trial Court in Criminal Cases 7598, 7599, and 7600 and, accordingly, ACQUITS the accused-appellants Romeo Oniza y Ong and Mercy Oniza y Cabarle of the charges against them in those cases on the ground of reasonable doubt.
The National Police Commission is DIRECTED to INVESTIGATE PO1 Reynaldo M. Albarico, PO1 Fortunato P. Jiro III and PO1 Jose Gordon Antonio for the possible filing of appropriate charges, if warranted.
The Director of the Bureau of Corrections is ORDERED to immediately RELEASE both the above accused-appellants from custody unless they are detained for some other lawful cause.
Velasco, Jr., (Chairperson), Vs. Peralta, Mendoza, and Leonen, JJ., concur.
24People v. Umipang, G.R. No. 190321, April 25, 2012, 671 SCRA 324, 332.