(Eagle News) — The Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional a provision in the country’s anti-drugs law that prohibits drug suspects from striking plea agreements.
The decision is in favor of Salvador Estipona, Jr., who had asked the High Court to junk the provision, after his motion for a plea bargain was junked two times by the Legazpi City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 3.
Estipona had argued the accused of “other heinous crimes such as murder, some acts of rape, and other crimes where the maximum imposable penalty is either life imprisonment, reclusion perpetua, or death, are allowed into plea bargaining under Section 1, Rule 118 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure.”
He also noted that the provision was “antithetical to the early resolution of cases.”
In junking the prohibition, the Supreme Court said in a press conference that it was “unconstitutional for being contrary to the rule-making authority of the [SC] in Article VIII, Section 5 (5) of the 1987 Constitution.”
The High Court has yet to release the full text of the decision.
Public Attorneys Office head Persida Acosta hailed the SC’s decision, noting that the 82,000 who are currently detained for drug-related cases now had “hope” of getting out.
