MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that prosecutors must raise all their objections when an accused offers to plead guilty to a lesser offense in drug cases, or else risk waiving them.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Japar B. Dimaampao, the SC En Banc reinstated a Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruling convicting Rodulfo Ferraren Aquino of illegal possession of drug paraphernalia under Section 12 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. The Court also updated its Clarificatory Guidelines on Plea-Bargaining in Drug Cases, also known as the Montierro guidelines.

Aquino was initially charged in Dumaguete City for selling and possessing shabu. He sought to plead guilty to a lesser charge—illegal possession of drug paraphernalia—for both cases. While the prosecution agreed to the plea bargain for the possession charge, it objected to the plea for the drug sale charge, citing Department of Justice (DOJ) rules. The RTC allowed Aquino’s plea and convicted him of the lesser offense.

The Court of Appeals (CA) annulled the RTC ruling, saying the plea bargain needed the prosecution’s full consent. The SC reversed this, citing the 2019 People v. Montierro decision which allows courts to reject the prosecution’s objection if it is based solely on DOJ policy and not the Court’s own guidelines.

However, the SC clarified that trial courts must still assess whether the accused qualifies for plea bargaining and whether the evidence of guilt is strong. In Aquino’s case, the RTC failed to make such determinations because his plea was submitted before the prosecution presented its evidence.

To avoid similar delays, the Court invoked the Omnibus Motion Rule under the Rules of Court, which deems all unraised objections as waived if not presented at the earliest opportunity.

The Court issued new rules supplementing Montierro:

• Any unraised grounds in the prosecution’s objection to a plea bargain are considered waived.
• If only some objections are addressed by the trial court, the remaining issues must be resolved according to SC guidelines.
• If records are incomplete, the case must return to the trial court for resolution using the updated rules.

Using these principles, the SC reinstated Aquino’s conviction for illegal possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to up to four years in prison and fined ₱60,000.

In a concurring opinion, Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting noted that in the 2023 Bason v. People case, the SC ruled that a drug dependency test is not required before plea bargaining approval, only after. He warned that the current ruling may create confusion as it updates Montierro without explicitly integrating Bason’s clarification.