THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 208837, July 20, 2016
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DONNA RIVERA Y DUMO, Accused-Appellant.
R E S O L U T I O N
PEREZ, J.:
Before this Court is an appeal from the 16 May 2013 Decision1 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 05117, which affirmed the 29 June 2011 Decision2 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Agoo, La Union, Branch 32, finding appellant Donna River y Dumo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Sections 5 and 11, Article II, Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9165.
The case stemmed from two Informations charging appellant with illegal sale and possession of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, the accusatory portions of which read as follows:ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
Upon arraignment, appellant pleaded not guilty to both charges. Trial on the merits ensued.Criminal Case No. A-5711 (Possession)
That on or about the 26th day of January 2009, in the Municipality of Agoo, Province of La Union, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously have in (her) possession, control and custody three (3) pieces plastic sachet marked as:
chanRoblesvirtualLawlibrary
(1) "B1 JJC" containing methamphetamine hydrochloride, a dangerous drug, weighing zero point zero five hundred thirty 0.0530 gram; (2) "B2 JJC" containing methamphetamine hydrochloride, a dangerous drug, weighing zero point zero five hundred sixty five 0.0565 gram; (3) "B3 JJC" containing methamphetamine hydrochloride, a dangerous drug, weighing zero point zero five hundred fifty four 0.0554 gram;
without first securing the necessary permit, license or prescription from the proper government agency or authority.3chanrobleslawCriminal Case No. A-5713 (Sale)
That on or about the 26th day of January 2009, in the Municipality of Agoo, Province of La Union, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of [this] Honorable Court, the above-named accused, for and in consideration of the sum of P500.00 did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously, sell and deliver one (1) plastic sachet containing ZERO POINT ZERO FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR (0.0484) gram of methamphetamine hydrochloride, a dangerous drug, to IO1 JAIME J. CLAVE, JR., who posed as buyer thereof using marked money, ONE (1) piece of TWO hundred peso bill bearing serial No. DQ540638; TWO (2) pcs. of ONE HUNDRED PESOS bill bearing serial nos. of EQ913638 and JM093792 respectively and FIVE (5) PCS. TWENTY PESOS bill bearing serial nos. of W783296; SC613989; V500855; W637658 and ZG282032 respectively without the necessary authority or permit from the proper government authorities.4chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
SPECIMEN SUBMITTED:In her defense, appellant presented a different version of the incident. She narrated that on 26 January 2009 at around 4:00 p.m., she was waiting for her grandmother on a bench located outside the latter's house when five armed men approached her and asked if she was "Donna Rivera." Appellant confirmed her identity. She was thereafter frisked. She and her live-in partner were arrested and brought to the PDEA office. Her live-in partner was later released while she was detained. She further claimed that during the investigation, she was not accompanied by counsel.10chanrobleslaw
chanRoblesvirtualLawlibraryA - Four (4) small heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing white crystalline substance with the following markings and recorded net weights:ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryA1 (A1 "JJC" with date and time) = 0.0484 gramB - Four (4) small heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing white crystalline residue with markings "C1 to C4" and "JJC".
A2 (B1 "JJC" with date and time) = 0.0530 gram
A3 (B2 "JJC" with date and time) = 0.0565 gram
A4 (B3 "JJC" with date and time) = 0.0554 gram
x x x x
PURPOSE OF LABORATORY EXAMINATION:ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryTo determine the presence of dangerous drugs. x x xFINDINGS:ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryQualitative examination conducted on the above-stated specimens gave POSITIVE result to the test for the presence of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride, a dangerous drug. x x x9chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered, to wit:On 16 May 2013, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the RTC. The appellate court held that the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the three (3) elongated and four (4) smaller sachets, all containing shabu, were seized from appellant's possession. Furthermore, the appellate court found that a consummated sale of shabu transpired between IO2 Clave and appellant. The appellate court gave full credit to the testimony of the PDEA officers relative to the presence of all the elements for illegal possession and illegal sale of shabu.
- In Criminal Case No. A-5711, the [c]ourt finds accused Donna Rivera y Dumo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 11, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, and hereby sentences her to suffer the indeterminate penalty of twelve (12) years and one (1) day as minimum to fifteen (15) years as maximum, and to pay a fine of three hundred thousand pesos (P300,000.00).
- In Criminal Case No. A-5712, the [c]ourt finds accused Donna Rivera y Dum guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, and hereby sentences her to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment, and to pay a fine of five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00)
The Branch Clerk of Court is directed to transmit the eight (8) plastic sachets subject matter of these cases to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for proper disposition.11
Sec. 5 Arrest without warrant; when lawful.Under Section 5(a) of the above-quoted provision, a person may be arrested without a warrant if he "has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense." Appellant was caught in the act of committing an offense. When an accused is apprehended in flagrante delicto as a result of a buy-bust operation, the police are not only authorized but duty-bound to arrest him even without a warrant.
A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person:
chanRoblesvirtualLawlibrary(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
(b) When an offense has in fact just been committed, and he has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it; and cralawlawlibrary
(c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or temporarily confined while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another
A buy-bust operation is a form of entrapment which in recent years has been accepted as a valid and effective mode of apprehending drug pushers. In a buy-bust operation, the idea to commit a crime originates from the offender, without anybody inducing or prodding him to commit the offense. If carried out with due regard for constitutional and legal safeguards, a buy-bust operation deserves judicial sanction.19chanroblesvirtuallawlibraryAppellant was caught in possession of 0.1649 gram of shabu. The illegal possession of dangerous drugs is punished under Section 11, paragraph 2(1), Article II of R.A. No. 9165 as follows:ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
x x x x
(1) Life imprisonment and a fine ranging from Four hundred thousand pesos (P400,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), if the quantity of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu" is ten (10) grams or more but less than fifty (50) grams;
Section 5. Sale, Trading, Administration, Dispensation, Delivery, Distribution and Transportation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals. - The penalty of life imprisonment to death and a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) to Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon any person, who, unless authorized by law, shall sell, trade, administer, dispense, deliver, give away to another, distribute dispatch in transit or transport any dangerous drug, including any and all species of opium poppy regardless of the quantity and purity involved, or shall act as a broker in any of such transactions.Accordingly, we sustain the penalty imposed by the RTC, as affirmed by the Court of Appeals, as it is within the range provided for by law.
Endnotes:
* Additional Member per Raffle dated 13 June 2016.
1Rollo, pp. 2-22; Penned by Associate Justice Stephen C. Cruz with Associate Justices Normandie Pizarro and Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez concurring.
2 Records (Crim. Case No. A-5711), pp. 281-287; Presided by Presiding Judge Jennifer A. Pilar.
3 Id. at 1.
4 Records (Crim. Case No. A-5712), p. 1.
5 TSN, 10 August 2009, pp. 4-8.
6 Id. at 9.
7 Id. at 14-23.
8 TSN, 17 August 2009, p. 8.
9 Records (Crim. Case No. A-5711), p. 17.
10 TSN, 6 June 2011, pp. 4-17.
11 Records (Crim. Case No. A-5711), p. 287.
12 CA rollo, pp. 39-47.
13People v. Bayan, G.R. No. 200987, 20 August 2014, 733 SCRA 577, 587.
14People v. Cerdon, G.R. No. 201111, 6 August 2014, 732 SCRA 335, 342.
15Valleno v. People, 701 Phil. 313, 322 (2013).
16People v. Tapugay, G.R. No. 200336, 11 February 2015.
17People v. Steve, G.R. No. 204911, 6 August 2014, 732 SCRA 385, 400.
18 588 Phil. 247 (2008).
19 Id. at 727 citing People v. Valencia, 439 Phil. 561, 574 (2002) and People v. Abbu, 317 Phil. 518, 525 (1995).