There is no need for an informant in a buy-bust operation to testify during trial, the Court of Appeals ruled recently as it junked an appeal by a Virac resident caught selling a gun and illegal drugs during the election period in 2022.
In its decision promulgated July 31, 2024, the CA’s Second Division affirmed with modification the joint decision of the Regional Trial Court finding Jose Benhur “Elay” Tablizo dela Cruz guilty of illegal sale of firearms and ammunition, possession of dangerous drugs, and violation of the election gun ban.
Then RTC Branch 43 Presiding Judge Genie G. Gapas-Agbada sentenced him to a maximum of 37 years in prison plus a fine of P400,000.00, with dela Cruz also ordered to suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right to vote.
The appeals court increased his jail term in the firearm and ammunition case by two more years, to a maximum of 16 years.
It may be recalled that the operation was launched by the Virac police station and the Catanduanes Provincial Intelligence Unit after it learned from a confidential informant that dela Cruz was looking for a buyer of his Cal. 38 revolver for P3,000.
On May 22, 2022, the police officer posing as buyer went to the relocation site in San Isidro Village where the informant soon informed dela Cruz.
During the transaction at a nearly forested area, the suspect handed a black belt bag containing the gun with two bullets and received a genuine P500 bill and five bogus ones, which he tucked in his waistline.
He likewise pulled out a matchbox containing plastic sachets containing white crystalline substance and offered it for sale to the undercover cop.
After his arrest for the sale of the loaded firearm, mandatory witnesses from the barangay council and the Department of Justice (DOJ) witnessed the subsequent search of dela Cruz that yielded the six sachets of shabu that later turned out to weigh a total of 8.553 grams.
The inventory of the evidence was later conducted at the police station due to a report that NPA members had been seen in the forested area.
Pleading not guilty, the accused denied all the charges against him that the evidence against him were planted but the Court brushed aside his allegation and found him guilty on all counts.
In his appeal with the CA, dela Cruz alleged that the prosecution failed to establish the validity of the buy-bust operation since there was no evidence to show that the informant indeed reported his gun-running activity and that the informant should have been presented in court.
He likewise claimed that the police failed to weigh the seized items during inventory, which he said was not conducted in the place where the items were seized.
The appeals court, however, found his argument bereft of merit, stating that the presentation of an informant as a witness is not regarded as indispensable to the success of the prosecution of criminal cases.
It noted the compelling need to protect the confidential informant from possible retaliation of the accused who got arrested, adding that his identity should be kept in confidence in deference to his invaluable service to law enforcement.
The CA 2nd Division also ruled that the prosecution was able to establish that a valid buy-bust operation was conducted by the police and that seizure of the firearm and illegal drugs was valid as there was no need for a warrant.
Also, the defense did not offer any evidence to refute his possession and sale of the loaded gun as well as possession of the dangerous drugs, the Court underscored.