SC denies businessman's petition to dismiss case over shabu shipment from China

The Supreme Court (SC) has denied a petition filed by businessman Chen Julong, also known as Richard Tan, to dismiss the case filed against him for the importation of a shipment of shabu from China in 2017.

In a 29-page decision, the SC Third Division said the Court of Appeals (CA) did not commit a reversible error when it dismissed Chen Julong’s petition.

The SC also stated that no grave abuse of discretion can be attributed to the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) when it denied his motion to dismiss and ordered his arrest.

“The Court finds no compelling reason to allow a deviation from the general rule. As correctly found by the CA, Chen Julong failed to substantiate his claim. On this ground alone, the present petition should be denied,” the SC said.

According to the SC, Chen Julong failed to comply with a condition precedent by not filing a motion for reconsideration against the RTC’s order.

The SC said that filing a motion for reconsideration is a prerequisite to filing a petition for certiorari.

Chen Julong had argued that the second information filed with the RTC lacked authority as it was not the information approved by the DOJ Task Force in its joint resolution.

However, the SC said that the second information was signed by the same panel of prosecutors who signed the joint resolution.

“Thus, the filing of the second information with the RTC-Manila likewise bore the approval of the DOJ Task Force,” it said.

The SC also did not give weight to Chen Julong’s argument that prosecutors committed forum shopping by refiling the case before the Manila RTC after the Valenzuela RTC dismissed the charges for lack of jurisdiction.

“While there may be truth to the idea that the prosecution only filed the second information with the RTC Manila because the RTC Valenzuela City dismissed the first information for lack of jurisdiction, this reasoning will not cause the dismissal of the second information,” the court said.

“It only shows that the prosecution heeded the Orders of the RTC Valenzuela City to file criminal charges in the appropriate venue,” it added.

The SC said that filing the second information does not amount to forum shopping.

Aside from this, the SC said the most appropriate recourse was for Chen Julong to proceed to trial.

The SC said the joint resolution found that Chen Julong, as chairperson of the Hongfei Group, acted as the "consolidator" responsible for receiving the five metal cylinders containing the drugs at his warehouse.

He was also in charge of the shipment and the preparation of the packing list.

“These findings, together with the other supporting documents attached to the information, establish a prima facie case against Chen Julong,” it said.

The decision, penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, was promulgated in November 2025 but posted on April 22, 2026. — BAP, GMA News