People vs. Wong Chuen Ming, 256 SCRA 182 (1996)

People vs. Wong Chuen Ming, 256 SCRA 182 (1996) 

FACTS:
 

• Said eleven (11) accused arrived as a group at the NAIA on Sept. 1991 at 1:00PM. Their respective passports showed that Wong and Au are the only British (Hongkong) nationals in the group while the rest are all Malaysian nationals. All accused arrived in Manila as a tour group arranged by Select Tours International Co., Ltd. Au Wing Cheung, an employee of said travel agency, acted as the tour guide.
• After passing through and obtaining clearance from immigration officers, the group went to the baggage claim area to retrieve their respective checked-in baggages. Thereafter, they proceeded to the customs area which at the time was manned by customs examiner Danilo Gomez.
• According to Gomez’ testimony, he instructed the group to place their baggages on the examiner’s table for inspection. Chin Kong Song’s bag was first to be examined. In the course of the inspection, Gomez found 3 brown colored boxes, marked Alpen Cereals and similar in size to powdered milk boxes, underneath the clothes. Gomez found nothing wrong with them. Gomez allowed Chin Kong to go. Following the same procedure, Gomez next examined the baggage of Wong Chuen and the former again found and pulled out 2 boxes of Alpen Cereals without cutting them open. He found nothing wrong with them and allowed Wong Chuen to go. But by the time the third baggage belonging to Lim Nyuk was examined, Gomez again pulled out another 3 boxes of Alpen Cereals and this time he became suspicious and decided to open one of the boxes with his cutter. The box contained white crystalline substance. Gomez immediately called the attention of Appraiser Oreganan Palala and Duty Collector Zenaida Bonifacio.
• The group were thereafter escorted to the district collector’s office, including Chin Kong and Wong Chuen who were previously cleared by Gomez. Gomez continued to examined the remaining baggages and he allegedly found that each baggage contained 1, 2, or 3 boxes similar to those previously found. A total of 30 boxes (34.45 kg) of Alpen Cereals were recovered. Gomez bundled these boxes together with a masking tape and handed them to Bonifacio, who in turn called out the names of the accused, one by one, and ordered them to sign on the masking tape placed on the boxes allegedly recovered from their respective baggages.
• Capt. Rustico Francisco, who was present in the district collector’s office, testified that he conducted a field test on a sample of the substance and confirmed that they were indeed “Shabu.” Francisco immediately informed the 11 accused that they were under arrest.
• The accused were brought to Camp Crame, where they were asked to identify their signatures on the boxes. They were again made to sign on the plastic bags containing white crystalline substance. Elizabeth Ayonon, a forensic chemist at the PNP Crime Lab confirmed that they were indeed “Shabu.”
• The defense endeavored to show that only Lim Chan Fatt, Chin Kong Song, and Lim nyuk Sun were responsible for bringing boxes of Alpen Cereals into the country (Lim Chan testified that he met the two at his boarding house in Hongkong a few days before the trip; that a certain Hongkong businessman Ah Hong asked Lim Chan to deliver these boxes and in turn the former will see to it that the latter will have a good time in the Philippines; that Lim Chan requested Chin Kong and Lim Nyuk to accommodate some of the boxes in their baggages) and that they cannot be held liable for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act because they had no knowledge that these boxes contained “shabu.”
• As for the accused-appellants Wong Chuen and Au Wing, they denied that the boxes were recovered from their baggages. They claimed that they were forced into signing the boxes by the police authorities who were present inside the collector’s office.
• Only Wong Chuen and Au Wing appealed (the others neither filed a notice of appeal nor filed their appellant’s brief.

ISSUE: 
 
Whether the signatures of accused on the boxes, as well as on the plastic bags containing shabu, are admissible in evidence.
 
RULING:
 The Court holds that the signatures of accused on the boxes, as well as on the plastic bags containing "shabu", are inadmissible in evidence. A careful study of the records reveals that accused were never informed of their fundamental rights during the entire time that they were under investigation. Specifically, accused were not informed of their Miranda rights i.e. that they had the right to remain silent and to counsel and any statement they might make could be used against them, when they were made to affix their signatures on the boxes of Alpen Cereals while they were at the NAIA and again, on the plastic bags when they were already taken in custody at Camp Crame. By affixing their signatures on the boxes of Alpen Cereals and on the plastic bags, accused in effect made a tacit admission of the crime charged for mere possession of "shabu" is punished by law. These signatures of accused are tantamount to an uncounselled extra-judicial confession which is not sanctioned by the Bill of Rights (Section 12[1][3], Article III, 1987 Constitution). They are, therefore, inadmissible as evidence for any admission wrung from the accused in violation of their constitutional rights is inadmissible against them. The fact that all accused are foreign nationals does not preclude application of the "exclusionary rule" because the constitutional guarantees embodied in the Bill of Rights are given and extend to all persons, both aliens and citizens.