SC OKs case vs Chinese in P6.4 billion shabu shipment

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese businessman Chen Julong must face trial for his involvement in the importation of P6.4 billion worth of shabu in 2017, the Supreme Court said.

According to the SC Third Division, the Department of Justice did not commit forum shopping when it filed a case before the Manila Regional Trial Court shortly after another RTC in Valenzuela, where the warehouse under Chen’s logistics company was located, dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

“While there may be truth that the prosecution only filed the second information with RTC-Manila because the RTC-Valenzuela dismissed the first information for lack of jurisdiction, this reasoning will not cause the dismissal of the second information. It only shows that the prosecution heeded the orders of RTC-Valenzuela to file the criminal charges in the appropriate venue. Be that as it may, the act of filing the second information with RTC-Manila does not amount to forum shopping,” SC Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh explained in a 29-page decision uploaded on the high court’s website on Wednesday.

SC Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Henri Jean Paul Inting, Samuel Gaerlan and Japar Dimaampao concurred with the decision.

The ruling stemmed from the petition for review on certiorari that Chen, also known as Richard Tan, filed with the SC.

The SC denied the petition for lack of merit as it upheld a Court of Appeals (CA) 2019 ruling that affirmed an order of the Manila RTC Branch 46 denying a motion to dismiss the case of importation of illegal drugs.