MANILA, Philippines — A drug suspect facing life imprisonment has been exonerated by the Supreme Court (SC) in a unanimous decision that found law enforcers deviated from procedural safeguards under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act when they failed to mark the evidence immediately after the sting operation due to the “tardiness” of a witness.
In a 12-page decision made public over the weekend, the SC justices voted unanimously to acquit drug suspect Mario Nisperos, who was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Tuguegarao City on June 30, 2015.
Court records state that Nisperos was arrested at 11:30 a.m., but officers did not mark the evidence immediately, which they only did half an hour later during the inventory at the scene upon the arrival of a representative of the Department of Justice who was late.
The law enforcers argued that the inventory could not be done with only the presence of the barangay captain, as procedural safeguards require two witnesses.
“Certainly, his late arrival is not a justifiable ground for the delay. The buy-bust team only had itself to blame for not ensuring that all required witnesses were readily available for them to be able to immediately conduct the inventory,” Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario wrote in the decision.
The vote to acquit Nisperos of his drug charges and for his immediate release from detention was unanimous, with Associate Justices Japar Dimaampao on official leave and Midas Marquez on official business.
While Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr. concurred with the result, he expressed his dissent on the SC’s majority opinion that mandatory witnesses such as local officials and DOJ representatives must be near the site of drug busts, and that inventory and taking photographs of confiscated drugs at the site of the bust “are not what the law requires.”
As a result of debates on procedural guidelines, the SC promulgated in their decision a set of guidelines for law enforcers, lawyers, prosecutors and judges for the inventory of evidence during buy-busts.
Under the guidelines, the SC said marking seized narcotics must be done immediately upon confiscation, at the place of confiscation and in the offender’s presence unless they eluded arrest or are killed during an encounter. — Delon Porcalla