PARTICIPATION, and not just one’s presence in the crime scene, is a necessary element to indict a suspected drug peddler in anti-drug operations.
This is what the Office of the Cebu Prosecutor emphasized when it junked the drug charges that Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)7 filed against 21-year-old Renell Borda, who was arrested in a drug operation last May 18.
“It is necessary that a conspirator should have performed some overt act as a direct or indirect contribution to the execution of the crime committed,” said Prosecutor Jill Ann Gealon in her resolution.
Gealon cleared Borda of violating Sec. 5, Article II of Republic Act (RA) 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
PDEA 7 operatives arrested Borda in a buy-bust on A. Lopez St., in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City.
Borda’s companions Ed John Bequilla, 20, and Jen-jen Bal eluded arrest.
The operatives said that Borda, Bequilla, and Baldesamo conspired in the illegal drugs trade.
In the resolution, Prosecutor Gealon dropped the charges against Borda, as PDEA 7 failed to establish that he conspired with Bequilla and Baldesamo.
To become an accomplice of the crime, one must commit an “overt act,” the prosecutor explained.
“The mere presence of an accused at the discussion of a conspiracy even approval of it, without any active participation in the same, is not enough for purposes of conviction,” the resolution read.
On the other hand, the prosecutor indicted Bequilla for violation of Section 5, Article II of RA 9165, a non-bailable offense, after his participation was clearly established.
The prosecutor was able to establish that Baldesamo, the subject of the operation, received the payment, while Bequilla gave the sachet of shabu to a poseur buyer.