13-yr-old decision overturned

CEBU, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has overturned the ruling of a lower court convicting a Mandaue City resident for allegedly selling dangerous drugs after finding about the non-compliance on the chain of custody of the evidence.

SC Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, in a decision he penned, acquitted Eddie Barte for violation of Section 5, Article II of Republic Act 9165 or Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, for the failure to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

“The failure to prove the chain of custody should mean, therefore, that the prosecution did not establish beyond reasonable doubt that the sachet of shabu presented during the trial was the very same one delivered by the accused-appellant to the poseur buyer,” read the decision.

On May 18, 2004, a Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) convicted Barte for the offense charged after the prosecution was able to prove his guilt for selling of dangerous drugs.

Barte was arrested through a buy-bust operation on August 10, 2002 at Consuelo Village, in Mandaue City.

Barte denied the allegation, claiming he was just sitting alone near the chapel of Basak, Mandaue City when police officers suddenly came and arrested him.

Accused-appellant escalated his conviction before the Court of Appeals (CA) but the said court affirmed the judgment of the RTC.

Not convinced with the rulings of both the RTC and the CA, Barte appealed the case before the SC questioning the integrity of the evidence claiming the law enforcers failed to comply with the chain of custody, for the preservation of evidence.

Bersamin found the appeal of Barte meritorious.

“It is a matter of judicial notice that buy-bust operations are susceptible to police abuse, the most notorious of which is its use as a tool for extortion. The high possibility of abuse was precisely the reason why the procedural safeguards embodied in Section 21 of RA 9165 have been put up as a means to minimize, if not eradicate, such abuse,” read the decision.

Bersamin added the procedural safeguards are not only to protect the innocent from abuse and violation of their rights but also to guide the law enforcers on ensuring the integrity of the evidence to be presented in court. (FREEMAN)