THIRD DIVISION[G.R. No. 120915. April 3, 1998]THEPEOPLEOFTHEPHILIPPINES, plaintif-appellee, vs. ROSAARUTA!ENGUIN, accused-appellant." E # I S I O NRO!ERO, J.$Withthepervasiveproliferationofillegal drugsanditsperniciousefectsonoursociety, our la enforcers tend at ti!es to overreach the!selves in apprehendingdrugofenderstothee"tent of failingtoo#serveell$entrenchedconstitutionalguarantees against illegal searches and arrests% &onse'uently, drug ofenders!anage to evade the clutches of the la on !ere technicalities%(ccused$appellant Rosa (ruta y )enguin as arrested and charged ith violatingSection*, (rticleII of Repu#lic(ct No% +*,-or theDangerousDrugs(ct% Theinfor!ation reads.That onor a#out thefourteenth/0*th1 dayof Dece!#er, 0233, inthe&ityofOlongapo, 4hilippines, and ithin the 5urisdiction of this Honora#le &ourt, the a#ove$na!edaccused, ithout #einglafullyauthori6ed, didthenandthereilfully,unlafully and 7noingly engage in transporting appro"i!ately eight /31 7ilos and8vehundred/-991gra!sofdried!ari5uanapac7edinplastic#ag!ar7ed&ash:atuta7 placed in a travelling #ag, hich are prohi#ited drugs%;pon arraign!ent, she pleaded not guilty% (fter trial on the !erits, the Regional Trial&ourtofOlongapo&ityconvictedandsentencedhertosuferthepenaltyoflifei!prison!ent and to pay a 8ne of tenty thousand /4,9,999%991 pesos%?t% @rnesto(#ello,OAcer$in$&harge of the Narcotics &o!!and /N(R&O)1 of Olongapo &ity and 4>?t%Bose Do!ingo% Cased on their testi!onies, the court a quo found the folloing.On Dece!#er 0D, 0233, 4>?t% (#ello as tipped of #y his infor!ant, 7non only asCen5ie, that a certain (ling Rosa ould #e arriving fro! Caguio &ity the folloingday, Dece!#er 0*, 0233, ith a large volu!e of !ari5uana% (cting on said tip, 4>?t%(#ello asse!#led a tea! co!posed of 4>?t% Bose Do!ingo, Sgt% (ngel Sudiacal, Sgt%Oscar I!perial, Sgt% Danilo Santiago and Sgt% @fren Euiru#in%Saidtea!proceededtoWest Ca5ac$Ca5ac, Olongapo&ityat around*.99intheafternoonof Dece!#er 0*, 0233anddeployedthe!selves near the4hilippineNational Can7 /4NC1 #uilding along Ri6al (venue and the &alte" gasolinestation% Dividing the!selves into to groups, one group, !ade up of 4>?t% (#ello,4>?t% Do!ingo and the infor!ant posted the!selves near the 4NC #uilding hile theother group aited near the &alte" gasoline station%While thus positioned, a Victory ?iner Cus ith #ody nu!#er *F* and the lettersCGO printed on its front and #ac7 #u!pers stopped in front of the 4NC #uilding ataround +.D9 in the evening of the sa!e day fro! here to fe!ales and a !ale gotof% It as at this stage that the infor!ant pointed out to the tea! (ling Rosa hoas then carrying a travelling #ag%Havingascertainedthataccused$appellantas(lingRosa, thetea!approachedher and introduced the!selves as N(R&O) agents% When 4>?t% (#ello as7ed (lingRosa a#out the contents of her #ag, the latter handed it to the for!er%;pon inspection, the #ag as found to contain dried !ari5uana leaves pac7ed in aplastic #ag !ar7ed &ash :atuta7% The tea! con8scated the #ag together ith theVictory ?iner #us tic7et to hich ?t% Do!ingo aA"ed his signature% (ccused$appellant as then #rought to the N(R&O) oAce for investigation here a Receiptof 4roperty Sei6ed as prepared for the con8scated !ari5uana leaves%;pon e"a!ination of the sei6ed !ari5uana speci!en at the 4&>IN4 &ri!e?a#oratory, &a!p Olivas, 4a!panga, 4>)a5% )arlene Salangad, a Horensic &he!ist,prepared a Technical Report stating that said speci!en yielded positive results for!ari5uana, a prohi#ited drug%(fter the presentation of the testi!onies of the arresting oAcers and of the a#ovetechnical report, the prosecution rested its case%Instead of presenting its evidence, the defense 8led a De!urrer to @videnceallegingtheillegalityof thesearchandsei6ureof theite!s there#yviolatingaccused$appellants constitutional right against unreasona#le search and sei6ure asell as their inad!issi#ility in evidence%The said De!urrer to @vidence as, hoever, denied ithout the trial court rulingon the alleged illegality of the search and sei6ure and the inad!issi#ility in evidenceof the ite!s sei6ed to avoid pre$5udg!ent% Instead, the trial court continued to hearthe case%In vie of said denial, accused$appellant testi8ed on her #ehalf% (s e"pected, herversionof theincident diferedfro!that of theprosecution% Sheclai!edthati!!ediately prior to her arrest,she had 5ust co!e fro! &hoice Theater here sheatched the !ovie Caleg% While a#out to cross the road, an old o!an as7ed herhelpincarryingashoulder #ag% Inthe!iddleof theroad, ?t% (#elloand?t%Do!ingo arrested her and as7ed her to go ith the! to the N(R&O) OAce%During investigation at said oAce, she disclai!ed any 7noledge as to the identityof the o!an and averred that the old o!an as nohere to #e found after sheas arrested% )oreover, she added that no search arrant as shon to her #y thearresting oAcers%(fter the prosecution !ade a for!al ofer of evidence, the defense 8led a &o!!entand>or O#5ection to 4rosecutions Hor!al Ofer of @vidence contesting thead!issi#ility of the ite!s sei6ed as they ere allegedly a product of anunreasona#le search and sei6ure%Not convinced ith her version of the incident, the Regional Trial &ourt of Olongapo&ityconvictedaccused$appellantof transportingeight/317ilosand8vehundred/-991 gra!s of !ari5uana fro! Caguio &ity to Olongapo &ity in violation of Section*, (rticle00of R%(% No% +*,-, asa!ended, otherise7nonastheDangerousDrugs(ctof 02F,andsentencedhertolifei!prison!entandtopaya8neoftentythousand/4,9,999%991 pesosithoutsu#sidiaryi!prison!ent incaseofinsolvency%