SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 252772. September 14, 2020.]
ALISHAAR HUEVOS y ALABA A.K.A. 'ALI', petitioner,vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated14 September 2020which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 252772 (Alishaar Huevos y Alaba a.k.a. 'Ali' v. People of the Philippines). — The Court NOTES the letter dated 12 August 2020 of counsel for petitioner Alishaar Huevos y Alaba a.k.a. 'Ali' (petitioner), informing the Court that the petition was filed through online, in compliance with Administrative Circular No. 43-2020, and in view of the physical closure of the Court.
After a judicious study of the case, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition 1 and AFFIRM the December 13, 2019 Decision 2 and the June 22, 2020 Resolution 3 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 12211 for failure of petitioner to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Illegal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition, defined and penalized under Section 28, paragraphs (a) and (e), Article V of Republic Act No. 10591, 4 otherwise known as the 'Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.'
As correctly found by the CA, the prosecution had satisfactorily established all the elements 5 of the crime charged, considering that: (a) petitioner was in possession of the subject firearms and ammunition, as shown by the testimony of the prosecution witnesses; and (b) he had no license or permit to own or possess the same, as verified by the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame, Quezon City. It bears stressing that the carrying of firearms and ammunition, without the requisite authorization, is enough basis to conduct a valid in flagrante delicto warrantless arrest, 6 as in this case. In sum, the Court finds no reason to deviate from the factual findings of the trial court, as affirmed by the CA, there being no indication that it overlooked, misunderstood or misplaced the surrounding facts and circumstances of the case. 7
SO ORDERED. (Baltazar-Padilla, J., on leave.)"
By authority of the Court:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 30-47.
2.Id. at 176-209. Penned by Associate Justice Celia C. Librea-Leagogo with Associate Justices Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez and Perpetua Susana T. Atal-Paño, concurring.
3.Id. at 49-50.
4. Entitled "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE LAW ON FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF," approved on May 29, 2013.
5. The corpus delicti in the crime of Illegal Possession of Firearms is the accused's lack of license or permit to possess or carry the firearm, as possession itself is not prohibited by law. To establish the corpus delicti, the prosecution has the burden of proving that: (a) the firearm exists; and (b) the accused who owned or possessed it does not have the corresponding license or permit to possess or carry the same. (See People v. Olarte, G.R. No. 233209, March 11, 2019.)
6.People v. Abriol, 419 Phil. 609-640 (2001).
7.Id.