Guevarra suggests some ‘liberality’ in applying chain of custody rule in drug cases

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday suggested some "liberality" in the courts’ application of the "strict" chain of custody rule in drug-related cases, saying there is a need to balance the rights of suspected criminals and of law enforcement and public safety.

Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, sets the procedure for the custody of items seized in anti-drug operations. The Supreme Court issued a policy for last year for arresting officers to justify any noncompliance with the requirements.

While Guevarra said the importance of the chain of custody rule "cannot be overemphasized," he said such "stringent" requirements can be abused by guilty drug dealers to be cleared of charges "by mere technicality."

"A judicial interpretation of Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165, or any amendatory legislation thereof, must delicately balance the need to protect the innocent without unduly compromising the capacity of our law enforcers and prosecutors to go after moneyed and wealthy criminals," he said in a speech at a summit on the dangerous drugs law in Manila.

He told reporters in a subsequent interview that there must be some "sense of liberality" in the application of the rules if there are "sufficient safeguards," such as witnesses who can testify on the seizure of the drugs.

"The sense of liberality that I speak of refers to the manner in which the courts should apply this provision, more particularly in case of noncompliance with the technical requirements but the integrity of the seized items has nevertheless been sufficiently preserved," he explained in a text message.

He said the courts convicted the accused in 77,648 drug-related cases in 2018, more than the 17,203 case dismissal and acquittals in the same period -- an improvement, he said, from 2,279 convictions in 2016 and 7,034 in 2017.

People vs. Romy Lim

In the case of People vs. Romy Lim, a drug convict the SC acquitted, the tribunal set a policy requiring arresting officers to justify any failure to follow the chain of custody rule in the confiscation of items in drug-related operations.

Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, who wrote the decision, clarified Wednesday that under the ruling, a case containing no such justification may be dismissed for lack of probable cause but may be refiled.

Peralta said he was "shocked" that the ruling had led to acquittals. 

On Thursday, Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin said the Romy Lim case "should not be understood in the light of lessening the burden of the government to prove the case."

He said it is instead a "requirement for us to follow the context of the law."

"We are making it easy for the arresting officers to comply with the letter of the law. We did not impose any new requirement. We only said 'this is the law, this is the letter of the law, follow it,'" he told reporters at the sidelines of the same event. — BM, GMA News