Woman meted life for drug possession

CEBU, Philippines – The Supreme Court has sustained the conviction of a woman who was sentenced life imprisonment by the trial court after she was found guilty of drug possession.

Associate Justice Jose Portugal Perez found no cogent reason to reverse the conviction of Juliet Panco, resident of Sitio Plastikan, Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City. She was sentenced to suffer life imprisonment and ordered to pay P500,000 fine after she was found guilty of violating Section 11, Article II of Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

 “The prosecution has duly established all these elements. By virtue of a search warrant, PO1 Roy Carlo Veloso, found three packets of suspected shabu in one of the rooms of accused-appellant’s house. The three packets of suspected shabu were submitted to the PNP Crime Laboratory. An examination was conducted on the seized items, and the result yielded a positive finding for the presence of shabu,” reads the decision of the high tribunal.

 Pancho appealed her conviction before the high tribunal after the Court of Appeals also sustained the trial court.

She alleged that the trial court erred in finding her guilty for possession of 14.49 grams of shabu and sentencing her to suffer life imprisonment and P500,000 fine. She was arrested by the operatives of Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau on September 14 at around 2:40 p.m. in Barangay Duljo-Fatima.

Police operatives seized several packs of shabu weighing 14.49 grams at the house of Pancho during the implementation of the search warrant issued by the court.

Pancho claimed the police barged into her house while she was on the second floor and presented evidence allegedly recovered in her house.

But the high tribunal ruled that the prosecution has satisfactorily proven the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.— /FPL (FREEMAN)