When noncompliance with Section 21 not fatal

In the prosecution of a case for sale of illegal drugs punishable under Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, noncompliance with the procedure set forth in Section 21 of the law is not necessarily fatal as to render an accused’s arrest illegal or the items confiscated from him inadmissible as evidence of his guilt, if, nonetheless, the integrity and evidentiary value of the confiscated items is preserved, there will yet be basis for the establishment of the guilt of the accused. (People v. Pringas, 558 Phil. 579, 593, year 2007)