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Ernesto C. Morales vs. Court of Appeals, et al.

ERNESTO MORALES y DELA CRUZ, petitioner vs. COURT OF APPEALS, HON. ALFREDO J. GUSTILO, as Presiding Judge of RTC, Pasay City, Branch 116 and PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.

G.R. No. 126623 | 1997-12-12

D E C I S I O N


DAVIDE, JR., J.:

The key issue in this case is whether, in light of R.A. No. 7659 1 as interpreted in People v. Simon, 2 and R.A. No. 7691, 3 Regional Trial Courts have jurisdiction over violations of R.A. No. 6425, otherwise known as the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, as amended, when the imposable penalty is not more than six (6) years.

The petitioner was charged with the violation of Section 15 in relation to Section 20 of R.A. No. 6425, as amended by R.A. No. 7659, in an information filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasay City on 13 March 1996. The accusatory portion of the said information reads as...