THE Supreme Court yesterday issued a clarificatory guideline on plea bargaining on drug cases to give more teeth to its April 2018 rule that was superseded by a stricter rule issued by the Department of Justice in June of the same year.
The tribunal said a judge can still overrule the prosecution who opposes plea bargain just because it does not conform to the rules of the DOJ, which is stricter than the rules of the SC.
The guideline reaffirmed the “primacy and exclusivity” of the SC’s rule-making power under the Constitution, and “guaranteed its precedence in governing over the plea-bargaining process in drug cases.”
As an example, under the SC-issued framework, a suspect charged with the sale of shabu that does not exceed one gram can plead guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia or equipment. That will reduce his or her imprisonment from life to only six months to a maximum of four years.
In June 2018, former Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra issued a circular on the amended guidelines on plea bargaining, which is stricter than the SC’s.
The DOJ rule was tested when drug suspect Inol Sayre, who was apprehended with 0.85 grams of shabu, asked the SC to declare as unconstitutional the DOJ rule. Sayre pleaded that his case be covered under the more “lenient” SC rules.
But state prosecutors opposed his petition and agreed to the stricter rules under Guevarra’s circular.
The regional trial court in Panabo city in Davao del Norte sided with state prosecutors on the case.
Before the issuance of the SC rules, the DOJ only had a little over 32 percent conviction in drug cases. The number shot up to 78.22 percent in 2018.
