In the
June 30, 2010 issue of this paper, I wrote about the presumption of
innocence. This is enshrined in Section 14[1], of Article III of the
Constitution (the Bill of Rights) which provides that in all criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary
is proved.
For the reason that the accused is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved, conviction must rest, as well-settled jurisprudence tells us, not on the weakness of the defense but on the strength of the prosecution. "When the prosecution fails to discharge its burden, an accused need not even offer evidence in his behalf." (People vs. Castro, et al., G.R. No. 122671, November 18, 1997).
*****
The recent exoneration by the Sandiganbayan of former Governor Hector
S. Sanchez and all his other co-accused again proves how the
presumption of innocence is applied by our courts. I had the privilege
of being the defense lawyer of former governor Sanchez in this case, and
also of Neptaly Tañon, in collaboration with his wife, Public
Prosecutor Rizalina V. Tañon, who was given special authority to defend
her husband.
*****
The case arose out of a purchase by the provincial government of
Catanduanes in early 2000 of 10 units shotgun at P18,500 each. According
to the criminal complaint or information filed with the Sandiganbayan
against former governor Hector S. Sanchez, Neptaly Tañon, Ireneo del
Rosario, Felipe Almojuela and Luis Ribano, Jr., the price of each
shotgun was only P12,400, thereby having an overprice of P6,100 each, or
P61,000 for the ten units.
*****
During the hearing of the case, however, the prosecution presented
only three witnesses: two investigators of the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI), namely, Atty. Ramilo Quinto and Ariel Jonathan
Contreras, and a cashier of a branch of the company which sold the
firearms, Shooters Guns & Ammo Corp.
*****
The NBI investigators did not have any personal knowledge of the
price of the subject shotguns at the time they were purchased. And so,
for being hearsay, the testimonies of these witnesses cannot legally
support any inference of overpricing. With respect to the cashier of
another branch of the seller, neither did she testify on the price of
the shotguns at the time of the purchase.
*****
In fact, to compound the prosecution’s woes, the prosecution itself,
perhaps unwittingly, submitted in evidence a price list of various
shotguns being sold in 1998 by Shooters Guns and Ammo Corp. at
P22,312.50 each, which is almost four thousand pesos higher than the
P18,500.00 paid for by the provincial government. And so, instead of
establishing an overprice, what the prosecution succeeded in showing was
that the price for the purchase was way below the market price. The
shotguns were actually purchased by the province at a bargain. If this
were a basketball game, what the prosecution did was to make a perfect
three-point shot in the opposing team’s goal!
*****
And so, when the prosecution rested its case and it was already the
turn of the defense to present evidence, we decided not to present any
defense anymore. We instead filed a Demurrer to Evidence which prayed
that the case be dismissed because the evidence submitted by the
prosecution was not sufficient to sustain a finding of guilt. We pointed
out to the Sandiganbayan that because of the presumption of innocence
in favor of the accused, suspicion no matter how strong, cannot be a
basis for conviction. The prosecution must rely on the strength of its
evidence and not on the weakness of the defense. The accused need not
prove his innocence because that is presumed. Consequently, if the
evidence adduced by the prosecution does not establish the guilt of the
accused beyond reasonable doubt, the accused need not adduce any
evidence in his favor to secure a judgment of acquittal. The presumption
of innocence continues until sufficient evidence is introduced to
overcome his presumed innocence, and his guilt is established.
*****
True enough, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the case for insufficiency
of evidence without the need of any evidence from the defense anymore. 
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