THE Court of Appeals (CA) overturned a lower court’s decision to dismiss smuggling charges from the unlawful importation of fifty container vans of “Canada waste” declared as “plastic scrap.”
The court’s Eighth Division said two judges handling the case from the Regional Trial Court, Branch 47, Manila, committed a grave abuse of discretion for prematurely granting the Demurrer to Evidence filed by the private respondents and denying the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration.
It also ruled the judge who denied the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration committed a grave abuse of discretion by failing to address the due process issue. Instead, his resolution said the judgment of acquittal was immediately final and could no longer be assailed.
The tribunal cited jurisprudence saying that a trial court’s decision can be nullified if it is found to have “blatantly abused its authority” and deprived the prosecution of the opportunity to present its case.
It determined the lower court’s actions were made without proper regard for due process; thus, the acquittal was considered null and void.
The court ordered the reinstatement of the criminal cases and directed the trial court to resolve the Demurrer to Evidence with dispatch after allowing the prosecution to file its comment.
The appellate court noted the private respondents filed their Demurrer to Evidence on June 17, 2023, and it was granted on June 20, 2023, while the order admitting the prosecution’s formal offer of evidence was only served on the parties on June 22, 2023.
It ruled this violated the prosecution’s right to due process because they were not allowed to comment on or object to the demurrer.
The case involved eight separate pieces of information filed against two private respondents for allegedly violating the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.
The charges stemmed from the unlawful importation of fifty container vans declared as “plastic scrap” but found to contain used, mixed, or unsorted plastic materials, including household garbage and used adult diapers, known as “Canada Waste.”
The Bureau of Customs filed a complaint against the private respondents before the Department of Justice, which found probable cause and led to formal indictments. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
