In a judgment promulgated Feb. 25, the Special Court for Drug Cases sentenced one Franklin Siquijor to life imprisonment for the illegal sale of 0.09 gram of shabu in violation of Section 5, Article II, also of R.A. No. 9165. {{more}}
Siquijor was also ordered to pay a fine of P500,000. He was arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted on June 18, 2007 by a composite team composed of operatives from the NBI, PDEA and Dumaguete City Police station at Luke Wright St., Barangay 2.
Siquijor had sold one heat-sealed transparent plastic with the shabu to an informant cum poseur buyer. The prosecution was able to establish the essential elements of the offense charged, especially presenting evidence that the transaction actually took place, along with the presentation in court of the illegal substance which constituted the corpus delicti.
The Court found the testimonies of PO3 Allen June Germodo, SRA Miguel Dungog and PO3 Dario Paquera, eyewitnesses to the transaction to be clear, straightforward and worthy of credence.
The accused tried to wiggle himself out of the case by claiming that the informant-poseur buyer was not presented in Court. The court ruled that the non-presentation of the informant-poseur buyer cannot prejudice the prosecutioní¢â‚¬â„¢s theory of the case.
As a rule, it is rare for the prosecutor to present the informant because of the need to hide the latterí¢â‚¬â„¢s identity and preserve his invaluable service to the police.
Comparing the defense version with that of the prosecution as to what really happened on June 18, 2007, the Court found the account of the prosecution witnesses more credible. Aside from the presumption that they í¢â‚¬” PO3 Germodo, SRA Dungog and PO3 Paquera and their companions í¢â‚¬” regularly performed their duties, this Court noted that the prosecution witnesses gave a consistent and straightforward narration of what transpired on the day in question.
The version depicted by the prosecution, through the testimonies of PO3 Germdo, Dungog and PO3 Paquera, the arresting/entrapping officers, could have only been described by persons who actually witnessed the event that took place on June 18, 2007. Only a trustworthy witness could have narrated with such clarity and realism what really happened on the date referred to.