SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 212808. September 28, 2016.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. WILSON AMAGO Y ESCAÑO @ "ISOK" AND CALIXTO MENDOZA Y RAMIREZ @ "CALIX," accused,
WILSON AMAGO Y ESCAÑO, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 28 September 2016 which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 212808 — People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, v. Wilson Amago y Escaño @ "Isok" and Calixto Mendoza y Ramirez @ "Calix," accused; Wilson Amago y Escaño, accused-appellant.
After a careful review of the records of the case, the Court finds the appeal to be lacking in merit. We adopt the findings of facts of the trial court as affirmed by the Court of Appeals.
The prosecution satisfactorily established the elements of illegal sale of shabu, to wit: (1) identity of the buyer and the seller, the object and consideration; and (2) the delivery of the thing sold and the payment therefor. Police officer Gerry S. Abalos (Abalos) was unwavering in his testimony that he acted as the poseur-buyer and that he transacted with appellant who sold to him 13.95 grams of shabu in exchange for P34,500.00. No ill motive was ascribed to the police officers who are thus presumed to have regularly performed their functions.
The alleged break in the chain of custody was belatedly raised on appeal. Appellant should have raised the same in the first instance before the trial court. We thus quote with approval the observation of the CA:
Appellant complains about the supposed failure of the arresting officers to establish the chain of events with regard to the handling of the seized item and alleges a possible tampering thereof. All that appellant could offer however are mere allegations without any concrete proof to substantiate his suspicions.
Upon the other hand, the prosecution satisfactorily established the integrity and identity of the dangerous drugs subject of the sale. The fact that the dangerous drugs presented in court were the same items recovered from appellant can be gleaned from the testimony of said poseur buyer, who narrated the incident from the time the plastic sachets of shabu were confiscated, to the time they were brought to the police station . . . . There is likewise sufficient evidence on record that the same plastic sachets were submitted by SPO2 Abalos to the PNB Crime Laboratory also on the same day they were confiscated from appellant, and were received in the presence of Forensic Chemist P/Supt. Lorna Tria.
Clearly, the prosecution sufficiently established an unbroken chain of custody of the confiscated item from the time the same was recovered from appellant to the time it was delivered to the PNP Crime Laboratory for confirmatory examination. Significantly, We observe that as an additional safeguard to preserve the integrity of the subject specimen, the police officers in this case endeavored and ensured that the same was marked and conveyed to the examining forensic chemist on the very same day it was seized from appellant.
xxx xxx xxx
Moreover, objection to the presentation of the marked plastic sachets should have been made right after they were offered as evidence. The alleged lapses in the safekeeping of the seized items should have been immediately brought to the attention of the trial court. Without such objection, appellant cannot belatedly raise said question for the first time in this appeal. . . . 1 SAHITC
We also examined the records and found that the prosecution properly established that the integrity of the confiscated drug was properly preserved. Police officer Abalos testified that he was the one who marked the plastic sachets immediately after the apprehension of the accused. Upon arrival at the police station, the confiscated items were presented to Police Superintendent Abe L. Lemos who immediately prepared a request for laboratory examination. 2 Abalos then brought the specimen to the Regional Crime Laboratory Office in Camp Vicente Lim, Calamba City. 3 The following day, March 22, 2005, Chemistry Report No. D-351-05 was issued confirming the specimen to be shabu. 4 In the said Chemistry Report, it was stated that the specimen was kept in the Regional Crime Laboratory Office for future reference 5 or until its presentation in court. Based on the foregoing, we entertain no doubt as to the integrity of the confiscated items.
The penalty for the unauthorized sale of shabu under Section 5, Article II, Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 is life imprisonment to death and a fine ranging from P500,000.00 to P10 million, regardless of its quantity and purity. The Regional Trial Court of San Pedro, Laguna, Branch 93 in Crim. Case No. 5175-SPL and the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 05054 thus correctly found appellant Wilson Amago y Escaño guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 5, Article II, Republic Act No. 9165 and accordingly sentenced him to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P500,000.00.
WHEREFORE, we ADOPT the findings of facts of the trial court as affirmed by the Court of Appeals. The appeal is DISMISSED. The assailed November 15, 2013 Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 05054 finding appellant Wilson Amago y Escaño guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165 and sentencing him to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P500,000.00 is AFFIRMED. cDCSET
SO ORDERED.(Carpio, J., on official leave; Brion, J., designated as Acting Chairperson per Special Order No. 2374 dated September 14, 2016)"
Very truly yours,
MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
By:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. CA rollo, pp. 119-120.
2. Records, p. 11.
3. Id.
4. Id. at 12.
5. Id.