THE SUPREME COURT (SC) ruled that prosecutors in drug cases must raise all their objections at once when an accused seeks to plead guilty to a lesser offense or risk forfeiting those objections entirely.
The decision stems from the case of a man who was convicted by a Dumaguete court for the illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.
He had initially been charged with both selling and possessing methamphetamine, but moved to enter a plea bargain for a lesser offense under Section 12 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) allowed the man’s plea, convicting him of the lesser crime, even as the prosecution only agreed to the plea bargain for the possession charge. The Court of Appeals later annulled the RTC’s judgment.
The high court disagreed, invoking its People v. Montierro ruling, which stated that objections based solely on Department of Justice policy are insufficient if the proposed plea complies with the judiciary’s official framework. In the decision penned by Associate Justice Japar B. Dimaampao, it was clarified that courts retain discretion to accept or reject objections based on valid criteria, such as noncompliance with SC guidelines or indications that the accused is a habitual offender.
The ruling noted that fragmented objections, those raised piece by piece rather than all at once, would now be treated as waived under the Omnibus Motion Rule.
“Thus, any time and effort ‘saved’ by the plea-bargaining system is effectively rendered nugatory as the trial court must again reopen the case and receive the prosecution’s evidence,” it added. “This is undoubtedly anathema to the chief virtues advanced by plea bargaining, that is, speed, economy and finality for the accused, the offended party, the prosecution, and the court.”
To avoid such delays, the SC issued additional clarificatory guidelines. Among them: trial courts must address all objections raised, and appellate courts can remand cases only if there’s insufficient information on whether the rules have been properly applied. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
