G.R. Nos. 129756-58 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. JULIAN DEEN ESCAÑO, VIRGILIO TOME USANA AND JERRY CASABAAN LOPEZ, ACCUSED.VIRGILIO TOME USANA AND JERRY CASABAAN LOPEZ, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, it is only the appeal from the judgment in Criminal Case No. 95-936 that is now before this Court. Due to the differing versions of the parties, there is a need to narrate each of the testimonies of the key players in this case. The prosecution has this version of the events: On the 5th of April 1995 and during a COMELEC gun ban, some law enforcers of the Makati Police, namely, PO3 Eduardo P. Suba, PO3 Bernabe Nonato, SPO4 Juan de los Santos, and Inspector Ernesto Guico, [10] were manning a checkpoint at the corner of Senator Gil Puyat Ave. and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). [11] They were checking the cars going to Pasay City, stopping those they found suspicious, and imposing merely a running stop on the others. At about past midnight, they stopped a Kia Pride car with Plate No. TBH 493. [12] PO3 Suba saw a long firearm on the lap of the person seated at the passenger seat, who was later identified as Virgilio Usana. They asked the driver, identified as Escaño, to open the door. PO3 Suba seized the long firearm, an M-1 US Carbine, from Usana. When Escaño, upon order of the police, parked along Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., the other passengers were search for more weapons. Their search yielded a .45 caliber firearm which they seized from Escaño. [13] The three passengers were thereafter brought to the police station Block 5 in the Kia Pride driven by PO3 Nonato. [14] Upon reaching the precinct, Nonato turned over the key to the desk officer. Since SPO4 de los Santos was suspicious of the vehicle, he requested Escaño to open the trunk. [15] Escaño readily agreed and opened the trunk himself using his key. [16] They noticed a blue bag inside it, [17] which they asked Escaño to open. The bag contained a parcel wrapped in tape, [18] which, upon examination by National Bureau of Investigation Forensic Chemist Emilia A. Rosaldos, was found positive for hashish weighing 3.3143 kilograms. [19] A certification was issued by the Firearms and Explosive Office of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) to the effect that Escaño was not a licensed/registered firearms holder of any kind and caliber. Usana, however, according to the same certification is a licensed/registered holder of a pistol Colt .45 caliber with license issued on 14 October 1994 and to expire on April 1996. Usana also has an application for a pistol Uzi Cal. 9mm. Neither of the two guns seized were licensed/registered with the NAPOLCOM. [20] For his part, Escaño (or Jovy) testified that on the 4th of April 1995, between 11:00 and 11:30 in the morning, he was at the lobby of Legend Hotel, at Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City, to meet with his business partners, including Usana and Lopez. He saw his friend and erstwhile co-employee at Philippine Airlines, Ramon Cabrera, who had borrowed his wifes car. Since it was his wifes birthday the following day, he asked Cabrera if he could get back the car. Cabrera readily gave him the keys of the car. [21] He left the hotel at around 11:45 i