G.R. No. 110036 October 7, 1994
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROSARIO GABRIEL y POLA alias Boy, accused-appellant.

FACTS

On November 29, 1989, a buy-bust operation was conducted against accused-appellant Rosario Gabriel based on information from a student, Rodolfo Ventura, that Gabriel was selling marijuana in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte. Ventura acted as the poseur-buyer and was provided with two marked twenty-peso bills. The team proceeded to the San Nicolas market area. Ventura approached Gabriel and asked to buy marijuana. Gabriel left and returned after 3 to 5 minutes with a package wrapped in aluminum foil, which he gave to Ventura in exchange for the marked money. At this signal, the other team members arrested Gabriel. The marked bills were retrieved from him. The seized package, later confirmed to contain marijuana leaves weighing 9.98 grams, was forwarded to crime laboratories for examination, which yielded positive results for marijuana.
The defense presented a different version. Gabriel testified he was a fish vendor who, after selling fish and inquiring about prices at the market, was approached by someone asking “if there is something,” which he ignored. Later, as he was about to enter his brother’s house near the market, four men grabbed him, boarded him in a vehicle, and took him to police stations. He claimed he was searched, and from his earnings of P700, the policemen took two P20 bills, recorded their serial numbers, and accused him of peddling marijuana. His half-brother, Grace Gabriel, corroborated seeing policemen collar and force Rosario into a vehicle.
The Regional Trial Court found Gabriel guilty beyond reasonable doubt of selling a prohibited drug under Article II, Section 4 of Republic Act No. 6425, as amended, and imposed the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P20,000.

ISSUE

Whether the conviction of the accused-appellant for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act should be affirmed and, if so, what is the proper penalty to be imposed considering the enactment of Republic Act No. 7659.

RULING

The conviction is AFFIRMED, but the penalty is MODIFIED. The Supreme Court affirmed the factual findings and credibility of the prosecution witnesses, upholding the regularity of the buy-bust operation and rejecting the defense of frame-up and extortion for lack of evidence. However, applying the retroactive effect of Republic Act No. 7659 (which amended the Dangerous Drugs Act) insofar as it is favorable to the accused, the penalty was reduced. Under R.A. No. 7659, the sale of less than 750 grams of marijuana carries a penalty ranging from prision correccional to reclusion temporal, not reclusion perpetua. Since the marijuana involved weighed only 9.98 grams, the penalty imposed is prision correccional. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the accused-appellant is sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of five (5) months of arresto mayor, as minimum, to five (5) years of prision correccional, as maximum. The fine is deleted as it is a conjunctive penalty only when the penalty is reclusion perpetua to death.