G.R. No. 185721 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. RICKY UNISA Y ISLAN, ACCUSED-. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, PO1 Forastero and PO1 Medina alighted from the vehicle. Upon seeing them, the confidential informant promptly approached and accompanied them to alias Ricky's place. At this juncture, the other members of the buy-bust team also alighted from their vehicles and followed PO1 Forastero, PO1 Medina and the confidential informant at a distance to provide perimeter security. [20] After a 15-minute walk traversing a place along the train railways, PO1 Forastero, PO1 Medina and the confidential informant reached the exact place of alias Ricky in Quezon Street, Purok 7, Poblacion, Muntinlupa City. The rest of the buy-bust team then acted as perimeter guards. At a distance of about seven meters, the confidential informant saw a person wearing a white sando and black pants sitting by a lighted house with an open door whom he recognized and identified as alias Ricky. The confidential informant then pinpointed alias Ricky to PO1 Forastero and PO1 Medina. Thereafter, the confidential informant immediately approached alias Ricky and introduced him to PO1 Forastero and PO1 Medina as his relatives. After gaining the trust and confidence of alias Ricky, PO1 Forastero told the former that he would like to "score" P200.00 worth of shabu and he simultaneously handed to him the two P100.00-peso bills marked money amounting to P200.00. Alias Ricky received the marked money and, in turn, got and opened a black coin purse with white stripes from his left hand and took out a small heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet containing the suspected shabu and handed it to PO1 Forastero, which the latter accepted. [21] At once, PO1 Forastero held alias Ricky's right hand and introduced himself as police officer. PO1 Medina then assisted PO1 Forastero in arresting alias Ricky by holding the latter's left hand. The other members of the buy-bust team, who were just within the vicinity, arrived. PO1 Medina recovered from the left hand of alias Ricky a black coin purse with white stripes containing 20 more small heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets with white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu and a small pair of folding scissors. The two marked P100.00-peso bills with Serial Nos. JX 392195 and DY 711514, respectively, amounting to P200.00, however, were recovered from alias Ricky's pocket by PO1 Forastero. The latter compared the recovered marked money with the photocopies thereof, which he brought with him in the buy-bust operation, and they matched. [22] Subsequently, alias Ricky was informed of his constitutional rights. He was, thereafter, brought by the buy-bust team to their office where they came to know his full name to be Ricky Unisa y Islan, the herein appellant. The items seized from the latter, which remained in the possession of PO1 Forastero and PO1 Medina on their way to their office, were immediately marked upon their arrival thereat. PO1 Forastero placed the markings "RU" representing appellant's initials on the subject of the sale, i.e. , o