Source: http://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83075:57057&catid=1584&Itemid=566
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 02:28:22+00:00

Document:
G.R. No. 205202, June 09, 2014 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. NENITA GAMATA Y VALDEZ, Accused-Appellant.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. NENITA GAMATA Y VALDEZ, Accused-Appellant.
This is an appeal from the Decision1 dated May 11, 2012 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 04839 which affirmed the Decision2 dated September 15, 2010 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati City, Branch 64 in Criminal Case Nos. 06-1344 to 1345 finding Nenita Gamata y Valdez (accused-appellant) guilty in Criminal Case No. 06-1344 for violating Section 5, Article II of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and sentencing her to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P500,000.00.
Meanwhile, the information in Criminal Case No. 06-1345 indicted the accused-appellant for illegal possession of 0.14 gram of methylamphetamine hydrochloride, an act punishable under Section 11, Article II of R.A. No. 9165.4 Considering, however, that the accused-appellant was acquitted by the RTC of such criminal charge, the present discussion shall concern only Criminal Case No. 06-1344.
On July 25, 2006, an information was received by Senior Inspector Joefel Felongco Siason (S/Insp. Siason) of the Station Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (SAIDSOTF), Makati City, from a confidential asset of the MADAC that rampant illegal drug peddling in Laperal Compound, Barangay Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City was being carried out by the accused-appellant, Jun Gamata (Jun), Toto Madera and Totoy Pajayjay. Apparently, their names are also included in the watch list of the MADAC.
At around 4:30 p.m., the team, together with the confidential informant, proceeded to the subject area. The team members positioned themselves in spots where they can monitor the possible transaction. Meanwhile, PO2 Aseboque and the informant walked towards Laperal Compound and thereupon noticed a woman clad in white t-shirt and maong pants. The informant identified her to PO2 Aseboque as the accused-appellant.
The two of them then approached the accused-appellant whom PO2 Aseboque queried as to the whereabouts of Jun. In response, the accused-appellant said that Jun was not around and that “kami nandito lang, bakit kukuha ba kayo?” PO2 Aseboque comprehended her response as the street language used in the dealing of dangerous drugs and that she actually meant that she was selling shabu if they wanted to buy one. PO2 Aseboque repeated his query to which the accused-appellant replied, “Wag niyo ng hintayin si Jun, ako meron.” PO2 Aseboque took her response as a confirmation that she was indeed selling shabu. He then asked her if she had P500.00 worth of shabu. The accused-appellant took out one plastic sachet from her right pocket and handed it over to PO2 Aseboque who in turn examined its contents and thereafter handed the buy-bust money to the accused-appellant. As she was placing the money inside her pocket, PO2 Aseboque made the pre-arranged signal to his buy-bust team mates by lighting a cigarette.
Upon seeing MADAC operative Pulido rushing towards the scene, PO2 Aseboque held the accused-appellant and introduced himself as a police officer. He directed her to empty the contents of her pockets but she refused. This prompted PO2 Aseboque to order Pulido to dig into the accused-appellant’s pockets. Pulido complied and discovered three more pieces of transparent plastic sachet containing white crystalline substance suspected as shabu along with the buy-bust money and P120.00 of the accused-appellant’s personal money.
The accused-appellant was then informed of her constitutional rights while the sachet she sold to PO2 Aseboque was immediately marked by the latter with his initials “REA” while those recovered by Pulido were marked with “REA-1”, “REA-2”, and “REA-3”. At the crime scene, PO2 Aseboque also prepared an Acknowledgment Receipt7 which he and the arresting team signed.
The accused-appellant and the seized evidence were subsequently brought to the Makati SAIDSOTF office where they were turned over to PO2 Rafael Castillo (PO2 Castillo) for investigation, interrogation and proper disposition. At the same office, PO2 Aseboque executed an Affidavit of Arrest8 and a Supplemental Affidavit.
Along with a Request for Laboratory Examination9 prepared by S/Insp. Siason, Pulido brought the seized specimens to the PNP Crime Laboratory. The same were received by a certain Relos, officer of the day, in the presence of Crime Laboratory Forensic Chemist P/Insp. Bonifacio.
In a Decision13 dated September 15, 2010, the RTC sustained the prosecution’s version and held that the pieces of evidence submitted established the presence of the elements of illegal sale of dangerous drugs, viz: (1) the identity of the buyer and the seller, object and consideration; and (2) the delivery of the thing sold and the payment therefor. Both elements were found present in the poseur-buyer’s positive identification of the accused-appellant as the person from whom he was able to purchase P500.00 worth of shabu.
The accused-appellant’s denial and alibi were rejected for being unsubstantiated. Her imputations of frame-up to the police officers were likewise found uncorroborated by convincing proof and thus overthrown by the presumption of regularity attached to the performance of the police officers’ official duties.
ACQUITTING the accused NENITA GAMATA y VALDEZ in Criminal Case No. 06-1345 of the charge for violation of Section 11, Article II of RA 9165.
The CA also dismissed the accused-appellant’s contentions that the statutory procedure for the inventory and photograph of the seized items was not observed. The CA held that the absence of a media representative or an elected public official during the inventory was not material to overturn a conviction as it did not pertain to the elements of the crime charged. The CA further stressed that non-compliance with the inventory and photograph requirements will not render void and invalid the seizure and custody over the items.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant appeal is DENIED and the appealed Decision dated September 15, 2010 rendered by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 64, Makati City, in Criminal Case No. 06-1344 for Violation of Article II, Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9165 is hereby AFFIRMED.
The Court denies the appeal.
The arguments proffered in support of the accused-appellant’s plea for acquittal has already been exhaustively traversed by the CA and based on evidence on record, the Court finds no reversible error imputable to the appellate court and the trial court in finding her guilty beyond reasonable doubt of illegal sale of shabu defined and penalized under Section 5, Article II of R.A. No. 9165.
Illegal sale of prohibited drugs is consummated at the moment the buyer receives the drug from the seller. In a buy-bust operation, the crime is consummated when the police officer makes an offer to buy that is accepted by the accused, and there is an ensuing exchange between them involving the delivery of the dangerous drugs to the police officer.20 In order to successfully prosecute the offense, proof beyond reasonable doubt of two elements must be satisfied by the prosecution, viz: (a) the identity of the buyer and the seller, the identity of the object and the consideration of the sale; and (b) the delivery of the thing sold and of the payment for the thing.
WITNESS [PO2 Aseboque]: After I asked her if where is Jun, she told me that Jun is not around, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: What did you do next?
WITNESS: She said: Kami nandito lang, bakit kukuha ba kayo?
PROS. PAGGAO: What did you understand by that?
WITNESS: It is a street language that they are using with dangerous drugs, so it is understood that we are going to buy shabu, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: What did you reply, if any?
PROS. PAGGAO: Any answer from the woman?
PROS. PAGGAO: What did you do?
WITNESS: I asked her if she has worth Five Hundred Pesos, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: What was her reply, if any?
WITNESS: She told me that she has worth Five Hundred Pesos, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: And, after that, what did you do, if any?
WITNESS: She took one plastic sachet from her right pocket, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: What did she do with that?
WITNESS: She handed that to me, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: And, upon receiving the sachet of shabu, what did you do?
WITNESS: I checked it first if it has contents, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: After checking, what did you do?
WITNESS: I then handed the buy bust money worth Five Hundred Pesos, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: And, after she received the Five Hundred Pesos, what happened next?
WITNESS: While she is putting the buy bust money inside her pocket, I made the pre-arranged signal by lighting a cigarette, sir.
PROS. PAGGAO: Now, you have been mentioning of Nenita against [sic] whom you were able to buy shabu and the one you arrested, is she in the courtroom?
PROS. PAGGAO: Will you kindly step down and tap her shoulder?
The alleged discrepancy between the testimony of PO2 Aseboque that he placed the marking REA on the seized item, the forensic chemist’s report stating that the specimen was marked “R.E.A.” and the absence of any such description in the Spot Report33 of PO2 Castillo did not cause a gap in the chain of custody. As exhaustively discussed by the CA, the identity and integrity of the seized item was preserved because, despite lack of accurate description in the Spot Report, P/Insp. Bonifacio testified that the item she received for laboratory examination bore the markings “REA” placed by PO2 Aseboque at the crime scene. It is for this same reason that the punctuation marks after the letters R, E and A in her Physical Science Report No. D-506-06S did not alter the identity and integrity of the actual specimen marked as “REA.” The specimen marked at the crime scene, turned over to PO2 Castillo and then received by P/Insp. Bonifacio were one and the same.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appeal is DENIED and the Decision dated May 11, 2012 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 04839 is hereby AFFIRMED.
1 Penned by Associate Justice Franchito N. Diamante, with Associate Justices Michael P. Elbinias and Rodil V. Zalameda, concurring; CA rollo, pp. 139-157.
2 Issued by Judge Gina M. Bibat-Palamos; id. at 22-26.
11 CA rollo, pp. 99-100.
19 Manifestation (In Lieu of Supplemental Brief) of the accused-appellant dated June 20, 2013, rollo, pp. 31-32.
20People of the Philippines v. Erlinda Mali y Quimno a.k.a. “Linda”, G.R. No. 206738, December 11, 2013.
21 TSN, August 6, 2008, pp. 12-14, 19.
23 G.R. No. 190342, March 21, 2012, 668 SCRA 827.
24 Id. at 843-844, citing Zalameda v. People, 614 Phil. 710, 741-742 (2009).
26 TSN, August 6, 2008, pp. 15-18; records, p. 17.
27 Records, pp. 7-8, 19-20.
29 TSN, June 2, 2010, pp. 4-5.
31 TSN, June 2, 2010, pp. 4-7.
32People v. Arriola, G.R. No. 187736, February 8, 2012, 665 SCRA 581, 598.
34People v. Cardenas, supra note 23, at 837.
35 Sec. 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.

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