(Eagle News) — The Supreme Court has acquitted a man convicted of selling shabu after it found the police who had arrested him had violated the chain of custody of illegal drugs as required by the law.
In acquitting Federico Señeres. Jr., and therefore reversing an earlier Court of Appeals decision that affirmed a Taguig court ruling, the third division said the policemen who arrested him in 2011 failed to comply with the original provision of Section 21 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, or Republic Act 9165, which requires that after seizure of the illegal substances, the apprehending team immediately conduct a physical inventory and take photographs of the same in the presence of “(1) the accused or the person/s from whom such items were confiscated and/or seized, or his/her representative or counsel; (2) a representative from the media and (3) from the Department of Justice (DOJ); and (4) any elected public official who shall be required to sign the copies of the inventory and be given a copy thereof.”
In this case, the division noted there were no representatives from the media nor from the DOJ, nor was there an elected public official present during the physical inventory and photograph of the seized items.
The division said only a security guard of the mall witnessed the inventory.
It said there was no explanation as to why the required witnesses were not present during the same, nor any proof the police indeed exerted efforts to reach out to them.
According to the division, the original provision of Section 21 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations shall apply since the alleged crime was committed before the amendment in 2014.
The division also noted its September 4, 2013 decision in People v. Lim, where it ruled apprehending officers must specify their compliance with the requirements of RA 9165 in sworn affidavits, and that failure to do so gives the court the discretion to either refuse to issue a commitment order (or warrant of arrest) against the suspect, or to dismiss the case outright for lack of probable cause.
“A stricter adherence to Section 21 of R.A. No. 9165 is required where the quantity of illegal drugs seized is miniscule since it is highly susceptible to planting, tampering, or alteration,” the division added.
“There being no justifiable reason in this case for the non-compliance of Section 21 of R.A. No. 9165, this Court finds it necessary to acquit the appellant for failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” it said.
Señeres and his co-accused Federico Valencia Jr. were arrested during a drug buy-bust at the food court of the Market!Market! Mall in Taguig on September 14, 2011.
Valencia died while the case was being tried.
