Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who was the ponente in the People vs Ancheta case where the High Court overturned the conviction of three men accused of drug trafficking in 2012, cited an international study conducted in 2008, which showed that out of 13,667 drug cases filed from 2003 to 2007, only 4,790 led to convictions—most of which were cases of simple possessions.
The charges against the rest were dismissed or the accused were acquitted.
Another data showed that of the cases filed with the Supreme Court from 2006 to 2011, 85 percent involved failure of the prosecution to establish the arresting officers’ compliance with the procedural requirements of section 21 of R.A. 9165.
“It is truly distressing how courts are constrained to make acquittals or dismissals, because of the inadvertent failure of arresting officers and the prosecution to establish compliance or justify noncompliance with a statutory procedure,” Sereno said in the ruling.
“This is the reason why we have emphasized countless times that courts must remain vigilant in their disposition of cases related to dangerous drugs. Also, we have already called on the police, PDEA, and the prosecution to reinfoce and review the conduct of buy-bust operations and the presentation of evidence,” she said.
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