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People vs. Jaen [DISSENTING OPINION REYES, JR., J.]

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. ELEVER JAEN Y MORANTE, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

G.R. No. 241946 | 2019-07-29

DISSENTING OPINION

REYES, JR., J.:

The constitutional presumption of innocence is not an empty platitude meant only to embellish the Bill of Rights. Its purpose is to balance the scales in what would otherwise be an uneven contest between the lone individual pitted against the People of the Philippines and all the resources at their command. Its inexorable mandate is that, for all the authority and influence of the prosecution, the accused must be acquitted and set free if his guilt cannot be proved beyond the whisper of a doubt.[1]

I dissent based upon this basic precept.

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