THE Regional Trial Court of San Fernando, La Union on Monday dismissed the drug charges filed against billionaire son Julian Ongpin due to the “non-compliance” of authorities to the Chain of Custody Rule under Section 21 of the Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act.
In a 12-page order issued by La Union RTC Branch 27 Presiding Judge Romeo Agacita, the trial court also ordered the lifting of the precautionary hold departure order issued on October 8, 2021 against Ongpin.
Judge Agacita said he is constrained to dismiss the case for lack of probable cause to issue warrant of arrest against Ongpin due to the failure of authorities to preserve the integrity of the evidence against the latter as mandated under Section 21 of RA 9165.
“In the case at bar, the prosecution’s narrative that the apprehending officers were not able to comply with the provision of Sec. 21 of RA 9165 in view of the peculiar circumstance of the case, i.e., the responding police officers were dispatched to investigate a dead human body…not of illegal drugs, is unmeritorious,” the order read.
“The repeated breach of the chain of custody rule here had cast serious uncertainty on the identity and integrity of the corpus delicti. Verily, invocation of the saving clause is unwarranted,” it added.
The trial court noted that the alleged dangerous drugs were not immediately marked at the time of seizure, which puts into serious doubts the evidencing value and integrity of the seized items.
It also observed that no witnesses were present during the markings and inventory of the seized items, including the accused or his counsel or representative.
The trial court pointed out that the Supreme Court, in its many previously decided cases, highlighted the importance of the presence of the insulating witnesses during the physical inventory and the photograph of the seized items.
The arresting officers also failed to cite justifiable grounds for the absence of the mandatory witnesses in the affidavits submitted to support the filing of the case.
“The failure to observe the proper procedure negates the operation of the regularity accorded to police officers. Moreover, to allow the presumption to prevail notwithstanding clear lapses of established procedure is to negate the safeguards precisely placed by the law to ensure that no other abuse is committed,” the trial court said.
The trial court’s decision came even as Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has yet to decide on Ongpin’s petition for review seeking the reversal of the resolution issued by a panel of prosecutors which found probable cause to indict him for possession of illegal drugs.
Ongpin’s camp through legal counsel Dennis Manalo argued that the panel had no evidence to support its findings that the respondent was in possession of the subject drugs and that it ignored “the gross and substantial violation of Section 21 of RA 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 also known as the Chain of Custody Rule” by police investigators.
Ongpin, son of billionaire businessman and former Trade secretary Roberto Ongpin, was specifically charged with violation of Section 11 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022 after two preliminary investigation hearings by the panel.
The case stemmed from the recovery of 12.6 grams of cocaine in the room that Ongpin shared with his girlfriend, 30-year-old Bree Jonson at Flotsam and Jetsam Resort in La Union last September 18.
The cocaine was discovered after authorities responded to a report of attempted suicide at the resort and found Jonson unconscious in a room.
Jonson was brought to the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Ongpin claimed that Jonson committed suicide as he found her hanging inside the bathroom, prompting him to seek assistance in bringing the latter to the hospital.
Both Ongpin and Jonson reportedly tested positive for illegal drug use.
Ongpin said the panel had no evidence to support its findings that Ongpin was in actual possession of the subject illegal drugs and merely said that he had “constructive possession” of the illegal drugs.