PEOPLE VS MARTIN SIMON y SUNGA Case 2

PEOPLE VS MARTIN SIMON y SUNGA
G.R. No. 93028 July 29, 1994

REGALADO, J.:
Sale of Prohibited Drugs
FACTS:
Martin Simon y Sunga was charged with a violation of Section 4, Article II of Republic Act No. 6425,
as amended, otherwise known as the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, under an indictment alleging
that he sold four tea bags of marijuana to a Narcotics Command (NARCOM) poseur-buyer in
consideration of the sum of P40.00, which tea bags, when subjected to laboratory examination, were
found positive for marijuana.
On 1989, after weighing the evidence presented, the trial court rendered judgment convicting
appellant for a violation of Section 4, Article II of Republic Act No. 6425, as amended, and
sentencing him to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment, to pay a fine of twenty thousand pesos and
to pay the costs. The four tea bags of marijuana dried leaves were likewise ordered confiscated in
favor of the Government.
HELD
n People vs. Martin Simon y Sunga, (G.R. No. 93028), decided on 29 July 1994, this Court ruled
as follows: (1) Provisions of R.A. No. 7659 which are favorable to the accused shall be given
retroactive effect pursuant to Article 22 of the Revised Penal Code. (2) Where the quantity of the
dangerous drug involved is less than the quantities stated in the first paragraph of Section 20 of
R.A. No. 6425, the penalty to be imposed shall range from prision correccional to reclusion
temporal, and not reclusion perpetua. The reason is that there is an overlapping error, probably
through oversight in the drafting, in the provisions on the penalty of reclusion perpetua as
shown by its dual imposition, i.e., as the minimum of the penalty where the quantity of the
dangerous drugs involved is more than those specified in the first paragraph of the amended
Section 20 and also as the maximum of the penalty where the quantity of the dangerous drugs
involved is less than those so specified in the first paragraph. (3) Considering that the aforesaid
penalty of prision correccional to reclusion temporal shall depend upon the quantity of the
dangerous drugs involved, each of the component penalties thereof — prision correccional,
prision mayor, and reclusion temporal — shall be considered as a principal imposable penalty
depending on the quantity, such that the quantity of the drugs enumerated in the second
paragraph should then be divided into three, with the resulting quotient, and double or treble
the same, as the bases for determining the appropriate component penalty. (4) The modifying
circumstances in the Revised Penal Code may be appreciated to determine the proper period of
the corresponding imposable penalty or even to effect its reduction by one or more degrees;
provided, however, that in no case should such graduation of penalties reduce the imposable
penalty lower than prision correccional. (5) In appropriate instances, the Indeterminate
Sentence Law shall be applied and considering that R.A. No. 7659 has unqualifiedly adopted the
penalties under the Revised Penal Code with their technical signification and effects, then the
crimes under the Dangerous Drugs Act shall now be considered as crimes punished by the
Revised Penal Code; hence, pursuant to Section 1 of the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the
indeterminate penalty which may be imposed shall be one whose maximum shall be within the
range of the imposable penalty and whose minimum shall be within the range of the penalty
next lower in degree to the imposable penalty. With the foregoing as our touchstones, and it
appearing that the quantity of the shabu recovered from the accused in this case is only 0.0958
gram, the imposable penalty under the second paragraph of Section 20 of R.A. No. 6425, as
further amended by Section 17 of R.A. No. 7659, should be prision correccional. Applying the
Indeterminate Sentence Law, the accused may then be sentenced to suffer an indeterminate
penalty ranging from six (6) months of arresto mayor as minimum to six (6) years of prision
correccional as maximum.
ACCORDINGLY, under all the foregoing premises, the judgment of conviction rendered by the court
a quo against accused-appellant Martin Simon y Sunga is AFFIRMED, but with the MODIFICATION
that he should be, as he hereby is, sentenced to serve an indeterminate penalty of six (6) months of
arresto mayor, as the minimum, to six (6) years of prision correccional, as the maximum thereof.
Article 192. Importation and sale of prohibited drugs. - The penalty of prision correccional in its
medium and maximum periods and a fine ranging from 300 to 10,000 pesos shall be imposed upon
any person who shall import or bring into the Philippine Islands any prohibited drug.
The same penalty shall be imposed upon any person who shall unlawfully sell or deliver to another
prohibited drug.

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PEOPLE VS MARTIN SIMON y SUNGA

G.R. No. 93028 July 29, 1994

Sale of Prohibited Drugs

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