PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs CAMALOUING SAMANODING, LARA y BRION

G.R. No. 199938 (January 28, 2013)

FACTS:
At 10:45 am on July 18 2005, the appellant, Laba arrived at the Manila Domestic Airport in Pasay City
for his flight in Davao City. When he approached the initial check-in area, Mark Villocillo who is non-
uniformed personnel suspected him that he has drugs in his shoes. After suspecting him, Villocillo asked
the appellant to remove his shoes and discovered that there were 2 sachets of shabu inside his left shoe
and 1 sachet on the other. After the plastic sachets were opened, the appellant was brought to Villocillo’s
office and he was investigated by PO2 Caimoso and indorsed him together with the confiscated plastic
sachets to the PDEA agents who eventually arrived at the scene. On that same day, the PDEA requested a
laboratory examination on the three plastic sachets and found that it is a dangerous drug.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the appellant, Camalouing Laba violated Section 5, Art 2 of Republic Act (RA) No. 9165.

RULING:
YES. The appellant violated Sec 5, Art 2 of R.A. No. 9165 because he was caught in flagrante delicto in
possession of an extremely large amount of prohibited drugs inside the airport before boarding his flight
bound for Davao City. According to Sec. 5, Art. II of RA 9165, the act of transporting shabu must clearly
be convicted. Therefore, the appellant violated Sec 5, Art 2 of R.A. No. 9165 because his presence at the
airport was for the purpose of transporting or moving the dangerous drugs from one place to another. The
Court also sentenced him to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of ₱500,000.00
without subsidiary imprisonment.