October 2009 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence
G.R. No. 186418 - People of the Philippines v. Alfredo, Jr. a.k.a. Jun Lazaro y Aquino
THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. NO. 186418 : October 16, 2009]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ALFREDO LAZARO, JR. a.k.a JUN LAZARO y AQUINO, Accused-Appellant.
D E C I S I O N
CHICO-NAZARIO, J.:
For review is the Decision1 dated 18 July 2008 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 02258 which affirmed with modification the Decision2 dated 27 April 2006 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 61, Baguio City, in Criminal Cases No. 23227-R, No. 23228-R and No. 23229-R, finding accused-appellant Alfredo Lazaro, Jr. a.k.a Jun Lazaro y Aquino guilty of illegal sale, possession and use of methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as shabu, under Sections 5, 11, and 15, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The facts gathered from the records are as follows:
On 17 June 2004, two separate informations were filed before the RTC against appellant for illegal sale and possession of shabu under Sections 5 and 11, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165. The accusatory portion of the informations read:
Criminal Case No. 23227-R
The undersigned accuses ALFREDO LAZARO, JR. a.k.a JUN LAZARO y AQUINO for VIOLATION OF SECTION 5, ARTICLE II OF REPUBLIC ACT 9165 otherwise known as the COMPREHENSIVE Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, committed as follows:
That on June 15, 2004, in the City of Baguio, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, x x x, and without authority of law, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously sell, distribute and/or deliver One (1) small heat sealed transparent plastic sachet containing Methamphetamine Hydrochloride known as Shabu in the amount of P3,000.00 [should be P300], weighing 0.05 gram to Poseur Buyer SPO1 Dennis G. Indunan, knowing fully well that said Methamphetamine Hydrochloride known as Shabu is a dangerous drug, in violation of the aforementioned provision of law.3
Criminal Case No. 23229-R
The undersigned accuses JUN LAZARO y AQUINO for VIOLATION OF SECTION 11, ARTICLE II OF REPUBLIC ACT 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 committed as follows:
That on June 15, 2004, in the City of Baguio, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused x x x, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously have in his possession and control One (1) small heat sealed transparent plastic sachet containing Methamphetamine Hydrochloride known as Shabu weighing 0.04 gram, a dangerous drug, without the corresponding license or prescription in violation of the aforecited provision of law.4
On 18 June 2004, an information was filed with the RTC against appellant for illegal use of shabu under Section 15, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, thus:
Criminal Case No. 23228-R
The undersigned accuses JUN LAZARO for VIOLATION OF SECTION 15 [ARTICLE II] OF REPUBLIC ACT 9165 [otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002], committed as follows:
That on or about the 15th day of June, 2004, in the City of Baguio, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously use Dangerous Drugs particularly Methamphetamine per the result of a Qualitative Examination conducted on the urine sample taken from him, in violation of the aforecited provision of law.5
Subsequently, these cases were consolidated. When arraigned on 28 June 2004, appellant, assisted by counsel de oficio, pleaded "Not guilty" to each of the charges.6 Trial on the merits thereafter followed.
The prosecution presented as witnesses Police Senior Inspector Hordan T. Pacatiw, Senior Police Officer (SPO) 1 Dennis G. Indunan, SPO1 Emerson A. Lingbawan and PO3 Paulino A. Lubos, all of whom are members of the Philippine National Police and were assigned at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Anti-Illegal Drugs Team unit, Baguio City. Their testimonies, taken together, bear the following:
On 15 June 2004, at about 12:30 p.m., an informant went to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Anti-Illegal Drugs Team unit (AIDT), Baguio City, and reported to PO3 Paulino Lubos (PO3 Lubos) the drug trafficking activities of appellant in Central Bakakeng, Baguio City. PO3 Lubos relayed the information to Police Senior Inspector Hordan T. Pacatiw (Inspector Pacatiw), head of AIDT, who in turn, referred the matter to Senior Superintendent Marvin V. Bolabola (Superintendent Bolabola), chief of CIDG, Baguio City, for appropriate action. Superintendent Bolabola formed a team and planned a buy-bust operation. The team was composed of Inspector Pacatiw who would act as the team leader; SPO1 Dennis G. Indunan (SPO1 Indunan) as the poseur-buyer; PO3 Lubos as the seizing officer; and SPO1 Emerson A. Lingbawan (SPO1 Lingbawan) as the arresting officer. Superintendent Bolabola handed SPO1 Indunan three One Hundred Peso (P100.00) bills to be utilized as buy-bust money. SPO1 Indunan marked the monies with "DG-06-15-04." Thereafter, the team coordinated the planned buy-bust operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
At around 2:30 p.m. of the same date, the team, together with the informant, went to appellant's house at 181 Km. 3, Central Bakakeng, Baguio City. Upon arriving thereat, the informant and SPO1 Indunan saw appellant standing at the balcony of the third floor of the three-storey house. The informant proceeded inside appellant's house and talked with appellant at the balcony of the third floor, while SPO1 Indunan stood outside the house at a distance of 10 meters. The rest of the team positioned themselves outside appellant's house at a distance of 25 meters. Later, the informant signaled SPO1 Indunan to approach him and appellant at the balcony of the third floor. Thereupon, the informant introduced SPO1 Indunan to appellant as user and buyer of shabu. The informant subsequently excused himself and left SPO1 Indunan and appellant. Appellant then asked SPO1 Indunan how much worth of shabu he would want to buy. SPO1 Indunan answered he would like to purchase three hundred pesos (P300.00) worth of shabu. Appellant knocked at the door of a room in the balcony and called a certain "Bong." Bong is appellant's brother whose full name is Ferdinand Bong Lazaro. A man opened the door and handed a green box to appellant. Appellant opened the green box, took a plastic sachet from it, handed the plastic sachet to SPO1 Indunan, and demanded payment from the latter. After examining the contents of the plastic sachet and believing that the same contained shabu, SPO1 Indunan gave the three marked one hundred peso bills to appellant. At this juncture, SPO1 Indunan removed his sunglasses and placed it in his pocket as pre-arranged signal to the other members of the team.
The other members of the team rushed to the crime scene and identified themselves as police officers. Appellant tried to resist arrest but he was subdued by the team. Inspector Pacatiw then apprised appellant of his constitutional rights. Afterwards, SPO1 Indunan frisked and recovered from appellant the buy-bust money and the green box which contained another plastic sachet with white substance. SPO1 Indunan marked with "DG-06-15-04" the plastic sachet containing white substance sold to him by appellant, as well as the plastic sachet with white substance found inside the green box.
Meanwhile, Inspector Pacatiw knocked at the door of a room on the balcony and called on Bong to open the door but to no avail. Inspector Pacatiw and some members of the team then forcibly opened the door. Although the team found no one inside the room, they, however, subsequently saw a man, whom they believed to be Bong, running down the basement of the house and exiting through its back door. The man then disappeared.
Thereafter, the team discovered and seized at the third floor of the house several drug paraphernalias. The team made a written inventory on said paraphernalias, as well as the plastic sachet sold by appellant to SPO1 Indunan and the plastic sachet recovered in appellant's possession, in the presence of representatives from media, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the barangay. Said representatives signed the inventory document on the seized items. Inspector Pacatiw took custody of the said seized items.???�r?bl?�
