816 Phil. 482
LEONEN, J.:
That on or about the 27th day of February 2006 at around 6:20 p.m. at Brgy. Kinali, [Municipality of Polangui, Province of Albay, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously deliver, dispense and sell two heat[-] sealed plastic sachets [of] methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) weighing 0.0526 gram and 0.0509 gram to a poseur buyer, without authority of law, to the detriment of the public welfare.On June 8, 2006, Saunar was arraigned.[5] She pleaded not guilty to the charge. Afterwards, pre-trial and trial ensued.[6]
ACTS CONTRARY TO LAW.[4]
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered:In its September 26, 2012 Decision,[39] the Court of Appeals affirmed Saunar's conviction.
1. FINDING the accused, DELIA SAUNAR y DOLOM, GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Violation of Section 5, Article II, Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as "The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002" for selling and/or delivering two (2) small transparent plastic sachets containing 0.0496 gram and 0.0487 gram respectively of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu," a dangerous drug, without authority of law; thereby, sentencing her to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Five [H]undred Thousand Pesos (P500,000.00);
2. The two (2) small transparent plastic sachets containing 0.0496 gram and 0.0487 gram respectively of methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu" . . . involved in this case, are DIRECTED to be disposed/destroyed in accordance with Sec. 21, R.A. No. 9165 and in the presence of a representative from this court. Within twenty-four (24) hours from such destruction, the pertinent certification shall be submitted to this court.
Furnish a copy of this judgment to the Philippine Drug Enforcement [Agency] (PDEA), Central Office, Manila.
SO ORDERED.[38]
Section 21. Custody and Disposition of Confiscated, Seized, and/or Surrendered Dangerous Drugs, Plant Sources of Dangerous Drugs, Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals, Instruments/Paraphernalia and/or Laboratory Equipment. - The [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] shall take charge and have custody of all dangerous drugs, plant sources of dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, as well as instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment so confiscated, seized and/or surrendered, for proper disposition in the following manner:Although "chain of custody" is not specifically defined under the law, the term essentially refers to:
(1) The apprehending team having initial custody and control of the dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment shall, immediately after seizure and confiscation, conduct a physical inventory of the seized items and photograph the same in the presence of the accused or the persons from whom such items were confiscated and/or seized, or his/her representative or counsel, with an elected public official and a representative of the National Prosecution Service or the media who shall be required to sign the copies of the inventory and be given a copy thereof: Provided, That the physical inventory and photograph shall be conducted at the place where the search warrant, is served; or at the nearest police station or at the nearest office of the apprehending officer/team, whichever is practicable, in case of warrantless seizures: Provided, finally, That noncompliance of these requirements under justifiable grounds, as long as the integrity and the evidentiary value of the seized items are properly preserved by the apprehending officer/team, shall not render void and invalid such seizures and custody over said items.
(2) Within twenty-four (24) hours upon confiscation/seizure of dangerous drugs, plant sources of dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, as well as instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment, the same shall be submitted to the PDEA Forensic Laboratory for a qualitative and quantitative examination;
(3) A certification of the forensic laboratory examination results, which shall be done by the forensic laboratory examiner, shall be issued immediately upon the receipt of the subject item/s: Provided, That when the volume of dangerous drugs, plant sources of dangerous drugs, and controlled precursors and essential chemicals does not allow the completion of testing within the time frame, a partial laboratory examination report shall be provisionally issued stating therein the quantities of dangerous drugs still to be examined by the forensic laboratory: Provided, however, That a final certification shall be issued immediately upon completion of the said examination and certification[.]
"[T]he duly recorded authorized movements and custody of seized drugs or controlled chemicals or plant sources of dangerous drugs or laboratory equipment of each stage, from the time of seizure/confiscation to receipt in the forensic laboratory to safekeeping to presentation in court for destruction." Such record of movements and custody of seized item shall include the identity and signature of the person who held temporary custody of the seized item, the date and time when such transfer of custody were made in the course of safekeeping and use in court as evidence, and the final disposition.[57] (Citation omitted)The "duly recorded authorized movements" of the seized dangerous drugs may be ascertained through the testimonies of every person who handled them. Mallillin v. People[58] is instructive:
As a method of authenticating evidence, the chain of custody rule requires that the admission of an exhibit be preceded by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what the proponent claims it to be. It would include testimony about every link in the chain, from the moment the item was picked up to the time it is offered into evidence, in such a way that every person who touched the exhibit would describe how and from whom it was received, where it was and what happened to it while in the witness' possession, the condition in which it was received and the condition in which it was delivered to the next link in the chain. These witnesses would then describe the precautions taken to ensure that there had been no change in the condition of the item and no opportunity for someone not in the chain to have possession of the same.[59] (Emphasis supplied, citations omitted)Although strict compliance with the chain of custody rule may be excused provided that the integrity and evidentiary value of the seized items are preserved,[60] a more exacting standard is required of law enforcers when only a miniscule amount of dangerous drugs are alleged to have been seized from the accused. The reason for this rule was clarified in People v. Holgado:[61]
In Mal[l]il[l]in v. People, this court explained that the exactitude required by Section 21 goes into the very nature of narcotics as the subject of prosecutions under Republic Act No. 9165:In this case, only 0.0496 grams and 0.0487 grams[63] or a total of 0.0983 grams of shabu were allegedly taken from accused-appellant. Such a miniscule amount of drugs is highly susceptible to tampering and contamination.Indeed, the likelihood of tampering, loss or mistake with respect to an exhibit is greatest when the exhibit is small and is one that has physical characteristics fungible in nature and similar in form to substances familiar to people in their daily lives. Graham vs. State positively acknowledged this danger. In that case where a substance later analyzed as heroin—was handled by two police officers prior to examination who however did not testify in court on the condition and whereabouts of the exhibit at the time it was in their possession—was excluded from the prosecution evidence, the court pointing out that the white powder seized could have been indeed heroin or it could have been sugar or baking powder. It ruled that unless the state can show by records or testimony, the continuous whereabouts of the exhibit at least between the time it came into the possession of police officers until it was tested in the laboratory to determine its composition, testimony of the state as to the laboratory's findings is inadmissible.Compliance with the chain of custody requirement provided by Section 21, therefore, ensures the integrity of confiscated, seized, and/or surrendered drugs and/or drug paraphernalia in four (4) respects: first, the nature of the substances or items seized; second, the quantity (e.g., weight) of the substances or items seized; third, the relation of the substances or items seized to the incident allegedly causing their seizure; and fourth, the relation of the substances or items seized to the person/s alleged to have been in possession of or peddling them. Compliance with this requirement forecloses opportunities for planting, contaminating, or tampering of evidence in any manner.
A unique characteristic of narcotic substances is that they are not readily identifiable as in fact they are subject to scientific analysis to determine their composition and nature. The Court cannot reluctantly close its eyes to the likelihood, or at least the possibility, that at any of the links in the chain of custody over the same there could have been tampering, alteration or substitution of substances from, other cases—by accident or otherwise—in which similar evidence was seized or in which similar evidence was submitted for laboratory testing. Hence, in authenticating the same, a standard more stringent than that applied to cases involving objects which are readily identifiable must be applied, a more exacting standard that entails a chain of custody of the item with sufficient completeness if only to render it improbable that the original item has either been exchanged with another or been contaminated or tampered with.
....
The prosecution's sweeping guarantees as to the identity and integrity of seized drugs and drug paraphernalia will not secure a conviction. Not even the presumption of regularity in the performance of official duties will suffice. In fact, whatever presumption there is as to the regularity of the manner by which officers took and maintained custody of the seized items is "negated." Republic Act No. 9165 requires compliance with Section 21.[62] (Citations omitted)
Based on the testimony of PO2 Montales, the two (2) plastic sachets were only marked at Camp Simeon Ola.[65] Any of the apprehending officers could have taken custody of the seized items during transit. It is highly probable, therefore, that the two (2) sachets had been tampered with, altered, or contaminated. The belated marking of the seized items creates doubt on the identity and origin of the dangerous drugs allegedly taken from accused-appellant.
Q: Now what happened when you meet face to face with Lolita Saunar who is now identified as Delia Saunar? A: I was introduced as the buyer of shabu wo[r]th One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00), then Lolita demanded the money and she went inside her house and several minutes later, she went out and handed to me the two (2) plastic transparent sachet containing white crystalline substance suspected as shabu. Q: Upon or after it was handed to you, what happened next? A: After examining and determining the contents of the plastic sachets, I gave the pre-arranged signal to the other members of the team. .... Q: After you have apprehended the accused, were you able to take possession of this recovered cellphone from Delia Saunar, what did you do next if any? A: I showed it to our Team Leader including the two (2) sachets of suspected shabu. Q: After that, where did you proceed? A: And after that, we proceeded to our office at Camp Simeon Ola.[64]
Crucial in proving the chain of custody is the marking of the seized drugs or other related items immediately after they have been seized from the accused. "Marking " means the placing by the apprehending officer or the poseur-buyer of his/her initials and signature on the items seized. Marking after seizure is the starting point in the custodial link; hence, it is vital that the seized contraband be immediately marked because succeeding handlers of the specimens will use the markings as reference. The marking of the evidence serves to separate the marked evidence from the corpus of all other similar or related evidence from the time they are seized from the accused until they are disposed of at the end of the criminal proceedings, thus, preventing switching, planting or contamination of evidence.While it may be true that the seized items were marked and inventoried in the presence of a media representative, an elected barangay official, and a representative from the Department of Justice,[68] there is no evidence showing that these procedures were done in the presence of accused-appellant or her authorized representative or counsel. Moreover, none of the witnesses to the marking and inventory of the seized items was presented in court to testify.[69]
It must be noted that marking is not found in R.A. No. 9165 and is different from, the inventory-taking and photography under Section 21 of the said law. Long before Congress passed R.A. No. 9165, however, this Court had consistently held that failure of the authorities to immediately mark the seized drugs would cast reasonable doubt on the authenticity of the corpus delicti.[67] (Emphasis supplied, citations omitted)