MANILA, Philippines — Detained Sen. Leila De Lima on Wednesday decried unconfirmed reports that the Supreme Court has dismissed her appeal to overturn its earlier ruling upholding the legality of her arrest.
In a statement issued from her detention cell in Camp Crame, De Lima said that while she was disappointed, she was “hardly surprised” by the ruling. She added that she vows “to continue fighting for [her] innocence.”
The senator lamented: “[I]t is difficult to understand how an impartial tribunal can allow a citizen to remain under detention when even they themselves cannot agree on the nature of charge.”
There has yet to be an official announcement from the SC on De Lima’s motion for reconsideration. A report in The STAR , quoting unnamed insiders, said that justices voted 9-5 on Tuesday to junk De Lima's appeal for lack of merit.
The report added that the high tribunal opted to not release the ruling until all concurring and dissenting opinions have been submitted.
De Lima pointed out that the justices did not even reach a consensus on the “true nature” of the charge against her.
State prosecutors indicted De Lima for drug trading, but later sought to amend the charges to conspiracy to commit drug trading, both under the Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
“Only five of the nine justices agree that the crime charged is Illegal Drug Trading (the original accusation of the DOJ), not Conspiracy to Commit Drug Trading (the subsequent accusation of the OSG),” De Lima said.
“At most, the allegations amount to bribery, which falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan to hear, try and decide,” the senator also said.
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On October 10 last year, the high court voted 9-6 to keep De Lima behind bars.
She had argued that considering her position as senator, it is the Sandiganbayan that has jurisdiction over her person. But the SC ruled that the Muntinlupa RTC has exclusive jurisdiction over the drug charges against De Lima, even if her position with salary grade higher than 27 is under the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan.
De Lima added that she will withhold further comment until the SC releases its ruling. “I would...be very interested to see why the SC denied it.”
The senator, one of the fiercest critics of President Rodrigo Duterte, has been under detention since February 2017.
She has been accused of allowing the proliferation of the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison during her term as secretary of Justice. She has yet to be arraigned.
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