G.R. No. 109616 . January 25, 1995.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MARTINA MACARIO y PACATIN and NIDA LASAGAN, accused. MARTINA MACARIO y PACATIN, accused-appellant.

FACTS

Accused-appellant Martina Macario was charged with the illegal sale and delivery of marijuana. The prosecution evidence established that on June 20, 1990, a buy-bust team was formed in Baguio City. PO3 Leonardo Galutan acted as a poseur-buyer and negotiated with Macario and her co-accused, Nida Lasagan (at large), for the purchase of twenty-two kilos of marijuana. The agreement was for delivery at the Victory Liner station. Later, Macario arrived alone at the station via taxi with three sacks. She handed one sack to Galutan, who inspected it, confirmed it contained marijuana, and then gave her the marked money. Upon Galutan’s signal, the arresting team apprehended Macario. The seized sacks were found to contain a total of over twenty kilos of marijuana.
Macario admitted her arrest at the bus station but denied any knowledge of the illicit contents. She claimed she was merely asked by Lasagan, an acquaintance, to deliver three sacks supposedly containing used clothing to the Victory Liner station. She asserted she was not present at the initial meeting with the informant and was unexpectedly visited by Lasagan at her uncle’s house in Baguio, where she agreed to the delivery request without knowing the recipient or the sacks’ true contents.

ISSUE

Whether the prosecution proved the guilt of the accused-appellant for the illegal sale of dangerous drugs beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The defense of lack of knowledge was correctly rejected by the trial court as inherently unbelievable. The claim that Lasagan fortuitously knew Macario’s location and entrusted a significant delivery without explanation defies ordinary human experience. In contrast, the prosecution’s narrative, provided by the poseur-buyer and corroborated by the buy-bust team, was clear, consistent, and credible. The elements of illegal sale of dangerous drugs were established: the identities of the buyer and seller, the object and consideration, and the delivery. The consummated sale was proven by the delivery of the marijuana to the poseur-buyer and the corresponding payment. The positive identification by police officers prevails over a bare denial. The Court modified the penalty by deleting the subsidiary imprisonment for non-payment of the fine, as it is prohibited when the principal penalty is life imprisonment. The decision of the trial court was affirmed with this modification.