PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. MARIA ROMA PALMIANO, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

People versus Palmiano

The Case

This is People of the Philippines versus Maria Roma Palmiano, a criminal appeal from a conviction for violating the illegal numbers game law, Republic Act Number 9287. The accused was charged as a collector of bets, a cabo or cobrador, in an illegal numbers game known as swertres, and was caught in the act at the public market of Catbalogan City. The case matters for the bar because it settles three recurring questions: whether a collector may be convicted when the bettor is not charged, whether possession of gambling paraphernalia raises a presumption of guilt, and whether swertres is legal or illegal when run outside the franchise of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Procedural History

An Information was filed against the accused before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 28 of Catbalogan City, charging her with violation of paragraph G of Section 2 of Republic Act Number 9287. She was arraigned with the assistance of counsel from the Public Attorney's Office and entered a plea of not guilty. After pre-trial and trial on the merits, the trial court rendered its Decision on January 4, 2013, finding her guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentencing her to a prison term of six years and one day as minimum to seven years as maximum, and ordering the confiscation of the gambling paraphernalia and the thirty five pesos in bet money in favor of the government.

From that conviction, the accused elevated an appeal to the Supreme Court, assigning two errors: that her guilt was not proven beyond reasonable doubt, and that she was convicted notwithstanding the absence of a penal law punishing the act complained of in the Information. The appeal was denied for lack of merit and the trial court's Decision was affirmed.

Facts

At about six o'clock in the evening of February 23, 2009, Police Inspector Jason Gutierrez was at the public market of Catbalogan City in civilian attire, conducting surveillance on reported illegal numbers game activities. From about three meters away, across the single road of the market, he saw the accused holding a bundle of stubs and a ball pen, talking to a man later identified as a bettor. He saw the man hand money to the accused, and then saw her write something on the stub.

When the transaction was completed, the officer approached, but the accused walked fast to evade him; he immediately apprehended her, while the bettor scampered away. She was brought to the police station and then to the Samar Provincial Hospital for medical examination. A lady police officer, Magdaso, frisked her inside a private room, and the search yielded a bunch of stubs, a red ball pen, and money of different denominations, which were turned over to the investigator, PO1 Alfonso Lucero, and documented in a Receipt of Object Evidence.

For her part, the accused testified that she was at the public market to collect payments from meat vendors for the snacks she peddled in the morning, and denied collecting bets for swertres. She presented no witness to corroborate her story. The trial court rejected her denial as self-serving against the positive narration of the arresting officer, and invoked the presumption of regularity in the performance of official duties.

Issues

• Whether or not the guilt of the accused was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
• Whether or not there is a penal law punishing the act charged in the Information, that is, whether collecting bets for swertres falls within Republic Act Number 9287.

Applicable Provisions

Paragraph G of Section 2 of Republic Act Number 9287 defines the collector or agent, and provides:

Collector or Agent ("Cabo", "Cobrador", "Coriador" or variants thereof). - Any person who collects, solicits or produces bets in behalf of his/her principal for any illegal numbers game who is usually in possession of gambling paraphernalia.

This is the very provision under which the accused was charged, and her acts must fall within this definition.

Section 4 of Republic Act Number 9287 creates the presumption from possession, and provides:

Possession of Gambling Paraphernalia or Materials. - The possession of any gambling paraphernalia and other materials used in the illegal numbers game operation shall be deemed prima facie evidence of any offense covered by this Act.

This answers the accused's claim that no legal presumption attaches to the numbers and stubs found on her.

Section 1 of Republic Act Number 1169, as amended, grants the franchise to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and provides:

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, hereinafter designated the Office, shall be the principal government agency for raising and providing for funds for health programs, medical assistance and services and charities of national character, and as such shall have the general powers conferred in section thirteen of Act Numbered One thousand four hundred fifty-nine, as amended, and shall have the authority: A. To hold and conduct charity sweepstakes races, lotteries, and other similar activities, in such frequency and manner, as shall be determined, and subject to such rules and regulations as shall be promulgated by the Board of Directors.

This is the source of the Court's ruling that swertres is lawful only when operated under the franchise, and illegal when run without a permit.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the prosecution established guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The arresting officer positively testified that he saw the accused receive money from a bettor and write on a stub, and that he caught her red-handed collecting bets. The Court rejected the argument that no one would commit a crime so openly in a public market, reasoning that illegal gambling on a small level, like drug-pushing, may be committed at any time and any place, and that public presence may even serve to camouflage the trade. The Court also held that there is no requirement in the law that the bettor be charged together with the collector, because their criminal liability is separate and distinct.

On the presumption, the Court held that the recovery of the gambling paraphernalia immediately after apprehension constituted prima facie evidence that she was engaged in the illegal numbers game, which she failed to rebut. On the non-presentation of the lady officer who conducted the body search, the Court held it was not fatal, since the arresting officer personally saw the recovered items right after the search and their turnover to the investigator, bolstered by the Receipt of Object Evidence. Minor inconsistencies in the officers' testimonies touched on immaterial details and did not destroy their credibility, and the trial court's assessment of credibility deserved the highest respect. Denial, being intrinsically weak and uncorroborated, could not prevail over positive testimony.

On the second issue, the Court held that swertres is a form of lotto, a game of chance duly authorized by law through the franchise of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. All forms of gambling are illegal; the suertres lotto is legal only because a law legalizes it and grants the Office authority to operate it. Hence, for an operation of suertres to be lawful, a necessary permit must first be secured; otherwise, the operation is deemed illegal. Since the accused openly admitted she had no permit and was not an agent of the Office, her act of collecting money bets for suertres was unlawful. The Court further noted that the swertres she engaged in was not the legal suertres, but an illegal numbers game using the lottery results as basis for its jackpot numbers, which falls within the definition of an illegal numbers game under Section 2 of Republic Act Number 9287.

Doctrine

First, a collector or agent under paragraph G of Section 2 of Republic Act Number 9287 is any person who collects, solicits or produces bets in behalf of a principal for any illegal numbers game and is usually in possession of gambling paraphernalia; the bettor need not be charged with the collector, their liabilities being separate and distinct.

Second, under Section 4 of the same law, possession of gambling paraphernalia is prima facie evidence of the offense; if unexplained or uncontradicted, it can counterbalance the presumption of innocence and sustain a conviction.

Third, swertres is legal only when operated by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office or its duly authorized agents under its franchise; without a permit, collecting bets for swertres is illegal gambling.

Disposition

The appeal was denied for lack of merit, and the trial court's conviction of Maria Roma Palmiano for violation of paragraph G of Section 2 of Republic Act Number 9287 was affirmed, with no costs.

Remember This

The one line to memorize: possession of gambling paraphernalia is prima facie evidence of the offense, and swertres is illegal unless operated under a permit from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Examiners use this case on the presumption arising from possession of gambling paraphernalia and on the separate criminal liability of the collector and the bettor.