Cited Laws
Accordingly, on March 20, 2023, Alea, through the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) , filed a Motion to Enter Into Plea Bargaining Agreement, with a prayer that he be allowed to withdraw his prior plea of "not guilty" and instead enter a plea to the lesser offense of Article II, Section 12 of Republic Act No. 9165 for both charges, pursuant to Administrative Matter No. 18-03-16-SC (A.M. No. 18-03-16-SC) . [7] The Ruling of the RTC The RTC, in a Resolution, dated March 27, 2023, denied Alea's motion to plead guilty to a lesser offense, the dispositive portion of which reads: Considering that court's discretion to act on plea bargaining proposals is independent from the requirement of mutual agreement of the parties, and after assiduously considering the records of the above-entitled cases, as well as the qualification/criminal propensity/character of the accused (being charged under [Article II, Sections 5 and 11], of Republic Act No. 9165), this Court, pursuant to the mandate of OCA Circular No. 102-2023-AA (Guidelines on Plea-Bargaining in Drugs Cases), DENIES the accused's motion to enter into plea bargaining agreement. SO ORDERED . [8] (Emphasis in the original) Citing OCA Circular No. 102-2023-AA, the RTC held that regardless of the mutual agreement of the parties, the acceptance of the offer to plead guilty to a lesser offense is not demandable by the accused as a matter of right, but is a matter addressed entirely to the sound discretion of the court. It further highlighted that the court shall not allow plea bargaining since the accused "has been charged many times" under Article II, Sections 5 and 11 of Republic Act No. 9165. [9] Aggrieved, Alea filed a Motion for Reconsideration arguing that the RTC's interpretation of the phrase "has been charged many times" is misplaced as the phrase should refer to past incidents, not applicable to the present case where the two charges arose from the same incident. [10] Further, Alea cited the Letter of Referral from the Southern Police District-Parañaque City Police Station to the Office of the City Prosecutor-Parañaque City, the Joint Affidavit of Arrest, the Affidavit of Arrest by the Poseur-Buyer, the Spot Report, and the Booking and Arrest Report, to state the relevant circumstances surrounding Alea's arrest: (a) [H]erein cases of Violations of Sections 5 and 11, [Republic Act No.] 9165 arose from one [] incident that transpired at about 5:00 p.m. of February 5, 2023; (b) NO OTHER CASES arising from acts antecedent or subsequent to the Violations of Sections 5 and 11, [Republic Act No.] 9165 were filed against herein accused, and an inquiry with the RTC-OCC, Parañaque City yielded negative results for any other case falling under herein accused's name; (c) NO RESISTANCE came from the accused at any time during the entire operation, and is NEITHER "WATCH LISTED" nor "TARGET LISTED"; (d) The buy-bust operation conducted is NOT A "SIGNIFICANT OPERATION," and the methamphetamine-positive urine samples