Case Digest: People vs Angkob

People of the Philippines vs. Mohamad Angkob

G.R. No. 191062 ; 19 September 2012

 

PONENTE:  Perez

SUBJECTS: Illegal Sale of Drugs, Buy-Bust operation, Chain of Custody

 

 

FACTS:

On 5 February 2005, acting on a tip, conducted a buy-bust operation and arrested the accused at the Metropolis Mall, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The arresting officers were able to retrieve a plastic sachet containing a white substance, which later tested positive for shabu, and the boodle money used in the operation. He was later prosecuted for Illegal Sale of Illegal Drugs. During trial, the accused denied liability and questioned the irregularities of the pre-operational reports claiming that there was no proper chain of custody. In addition, accused questions the discrepancy of the quantity of the shabu sought by the poseur-buyer (50g) and the quantity tested by the crime laboratory (47.47g). The RTC sentenced the accused to life imprisonment, accessory penalties and to pay a fine.

 

ISSUES:

  1. Whether or not the penalty imposed is proper
  2. Whether or not the chain of custody was violated when the prosecution failed to present the chemist who tested the white substance and confirmed it to be shabu

 

HELD:

  1. No, the penalty of life imprisonment does not carry with it an accessory penalty. The CA maintained the penalty of life imprisonment and deleted the accessory penalty, which the SC affirmed.

  1. The elements necessary for the prosecution of illegal sale of drugs are: (1) the identities of the buyer and the seller, the object, and consideration; and (2) the delivery of the thing sold and the payment therefor. What is material to the prosecution for illegal sale of dangerous drugs is the proof that the transaction or sale actually took place, coupled with the presentation in court of evidence of corpus delicti.
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