THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 208168. March 11, 2015.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. HADJI DE GUZMAN Y TUAN AND REA TOREDA Y DALINO, accused-appellants.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Third Division, issued a Resolution dated March 11, 2015, which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 208168 (People of the Philippines vs. Hadji de Guzman y Tuan and Rea Toreda y Dalino). — Before us is an appeal from the February 21, 2013 Decision 1 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 04402, which affirmed the Decision 2 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Marikina City, Branch 192, finding appellants Hadji de Guzman and Rea Toreda guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 26 (b), Article II of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165. 3
An Information 4 was filed charging appellants with the offense of conspiracy to sell 0.03 gram of shabu. Upon arraignment, they pleaded not guilty to the charge. 5
The prosecution established that on March 30, 2006, Police Officer 2 (PO2) Christopher Anos received a phone call from a confidential informant, who reported that appellants were selling illegal drugs in Diego Silang Street, San Roque, Marikina City. Acting on the report, a team was formed to conduct a buy-bust operation. After coordinating with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the team proceeded to the target area to meet the informant. The informant then led them to an alley and he went inside a house where people were having a shabu session. Later, the informant returned followed by appellants. Hadji asked how much shabu PO2 Anos wanted to buy, to which the latter replied P200 worth of shabu. Hadji called Rea and asked if she had shabu and she answered "perahin na lang natin yan." Rea then handed the item to Hadji, who in turn gave it to PO2 Anos. When PO2 Anos was about to pay him, a person came out from the house next door and greeted PO2 Anos saying, "Sir, napasyal kayo?" Hadji sensed something unusual but before he could run, PO2 Anos held him. The other policemen arrived and arrested appellants and the other accused. They were able to seize drug paraphernalia such as a lighter, an improvised tooter, a strip of aluminum foil and an open plastic sachet with a white crystalline substance. 6 The seized sachet from appellants was marked "HTDG-CA DELIVERY 03/30/06." After conducting a laboratory examination, the specimen was confirmed to be Methamphetamine Hydrochloride. 7HScCEa
In her defense, Rea Toreda denied the allegations against her. She testified that she was in the house because her live-in partner, Jushua, was staying there. 8 Meanwhile, Hadji de Guzman narrated that the policemen suddenly barged in the house while Rea and Jushua were talking. After being arrested, the policemen mauled Jushua and brought them to the police station. Moreover, Hadji denied having shabu in his possession. He also asserted that he did not transact with PO2 Anos. He further claimed that he only saw the pieces of evidence offered against them in court when the chemist took the witness stand during the trial. 9
The RTC convicted the appellants of violation of Section 26 (b), in relation to Section 5, second paragraph No. 3, Article II of RA No. 9165 after finding that the prosecution's evidence established appellants' guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Appellants were sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of P500,000.
Appellants appealed to the CA arguing that the trial court erred in convicting them for failure of the apprehending officers to preserve the integrity and identity of the seized shabu.
The CA affirmed the RTC Decision. It found that the evidence of the prosecution is entitled to full faith and credit and that there was no evidence that the arresting officers were inspired by improper motives. The CA held that the prosecution succeeded in establishing the essential elements of the offense charged with moral certainty.
Issue
Whether appellants' guilt was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Our Ruling
We dismiss the appeal.
It has been held that strict compliance as to the chain of custody rule is not required and that the arrest of an accused will not be invalidated and the items seized from him rendered inadmissible on the sole ground of non-compliance with Section 21, Article II of RA No. 9165. We have emphasized that what is essential is "the preservation of the integrity and the evidentiary value of the seized items, as the same would be utilized in the determination of the guilt or innocence of the accused." Briefly stated, non-compliance with the procedural requirements under RA No. 9165 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations relative to the custody, photographing, and drug-testing of the apprehended persons, is not a serious flaw that can render void the seizures and custody of drugs in a buy-bust operation. 10CASTDI
In the instant case, we find that the chain of custody of the seized prohibited drugs was not broken. We agree with the CA that the prosecution has sufficiently established the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized item from the time that it was seized from appellants up to the time it was presented in court. We note that the sealed plastic sachet of shabu from appellant Hadji was marked by PO2 Anos with "HTDG-CA DELIVERY 03/30/06" signifying the initials of Hadji, the initials of PO2 Anos and the date of the seizure of the drug. After the marking was made, the sachet and the drug paraphernalia were brought to the police station and a Request for Laboratory Examination 11 was prepared. 12 It is clear that from the time of the seizure of the sachet up to the time it was brought to the police station for the preparation of Request for Laboratory Examination, the seized item was in possession of PO2 Anos. Thereafter, the seized item was brought by PO2 Anos and PO3 Soriano to the crime laboratory. It was also shown that the Request was stamped received by Police Senior Inspector (P/Sr. Insp.) Lordeliza Gural-Cejes on March 31, 2006 at 12:15 p.m. Physical Science Report No. D-032-2006E 13 showed that sachet marked as "HTDG-CA DELIVERY 03/03/06" as stated in the Request was subjected to laboratory examination. The Report of P/Sr. Insp. Gural-Cejes, the forensic chemist, indicated that the specimen was found to be positive of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride. She later identified the Report in her testimony in court. 14
Finally, under Section 26 15 of RA No. 9165, conspiracy to deliver a dangerous drug shall be punished by the penalty prescribed for the sale or delivery of the same. Hence, the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P500,000 imposed by the CA on appellants is proper.
WHEREFORE, we DISMISS the instant appeal. The Decision dated February 21, 2013 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 04402, which affirmed the conviction of appellants Hadji de Guzman and Rea Toreda, is hereby AFFIRMED in toto. Costs against accused-appellants. (Jardeleza, J., no part, due to his prior action as Solicitor General; Leonardo-De Castro, J., designated Member per Raffle dated January 5, 2015.)
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) WILFREDO V. LAPITANDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Rollo, pp. 2-14. Penned by Associate Justice Noel G. Tijam, with Associate Justices Romeo F. Barza and Ramon A. Cruz concurring.
2. CA rollo, pp. 59-79. Penned by Judge Geraldine C. Fiel-Macaraig.
3. Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
4. Records, p. 1.
5. Id. at 85.
6. TSN, August 2, 2006, pp. 4-23.
7. Records, p. 27.
8. TSN, January 19, 2009, pp. 3-18.
9. TSN, February 9, 2009, pp. 6-12.
10. People v. Cardenas, G.R. No. 190342, March 21, 2012, 668 SCRA 827, 837.
11. Records, p. 26.
12. TSN, August 2, 2006, pp. 17-19.
13. Records, p. 27.
14. TSN, June 19, 2006, pp. 6-7.
15. Section 26. Attempt or Conspiracy. — Any attempt or conspiracy to commit the following unlawful acts shall be penalized by the same penalty prescribed for the commission of the same as provided under this Act:
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(b) Sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical;
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