De Lima appeals denial of bail, bid to junk charge in 2nd drug case
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila De Lima on Tuesday appealed the dismissal of her plea to post bail and junk the second drug case she is facing, as she questioned the "conspicuous absence" of one of their pleadings in Muntinlupa court's denial order.
In a 70-page motion for reconsideration, De Lima’s lawyer asked the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 to reverse its ruling on February 17 and grant their demurrer to evidence, a legal challenge to sufficiency of prosecution evidence.
De Lima, through her lawyer Teddy Rigoroso, also moved for the reconsideration of the court’s denial of their Motion for Bail “on the grounds that the evidence of guilt is not strong.”
The detained senator last week was acquitted in one of the three drug cases she has been facing since February 2017. Judge Liezel Aquiatan, however, dismissed their demurrer and bail bid in a Joint Omnibus motion and ordered the trial to proceed.
READ: De Lima acquitted in 1 of 3 drug cases
But De Lima’s team said the court had committed “errors and oversight” when it junked their bid.
“This Motion for Reconsideration, therefore, is being submitted in order to give the Honorable Court the opportunity, not just to revisit the Omnibus Order or the merits of the Motions filed by Accused De Lima (one of which was even erroneously referenced as a ‘Petition for Bail and not even referenced even once), but also the entire records of the case,” the motion read.
'Cherry picking'
De Lima’s legal team noted that 60% of the order was devoted to summarizing the prosecution’s narrative while their motion for bail and demurrer were reduced to just half a page of enumeration.
They said only six paragraphs in the eight pages of their 83-paged demurrer was referenced, while not one reference was made to their earlier filed motion for bail, even though this was cited heavily in the later filed bid to dismiss the case.
“This conspicuous absence, in addition to the fact that its very title was wrongly cited as ‘Petition for Bail’ in the third line of the Omnibus Order, gives rise to doubts that it was even seen before, much less considered at all, in the drafting of the Omnibus Order,” they said.
“In fact, with how often the Exhibits for the Prosecution were cited (corresponding to averments made in the Sworn Statements of witnesses), instead of the witnesses’ actual testimony on the stand, especially the cross-examination by counsels for the two Accused, a reader would be led to believe that this was an Order resolving a Motion that was filed before the witnesses were ever presented and made to testify, and without their competence and credibility being tested in open court,” De Lima added.
Prosecution witnesses
The court, the Omnibus Order, said that following the prosecution witnesses’ testimonies, “it is clear that the money were collected as contributions to the fund raising of accused De Lima for her campaign as senator.”
It added that De Lima and her co-accused Ronnie Dayan, her former aide, must explain the P10 million they received, why the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group were excluded from Oplan Galugad, and why illegal drug trading continued even after the raid.
"These facts, if unrebutted, the same is prima facie sufficient to support a verdict of guilt against the accused," the court added.
In a bid to reverse this, De Lima’s lawyers noted that the testimony of Gen. Benjamin Magalong, former chief of the CIDG, pertains to events that happened in 2014, when he assumed the post, which was two years after the events relevant to the case.
De Lima also said Magalong’s testimony centered on then-Bureau of Corrections Officer-in-Charge Rafael Ragos, as the police general noted that information that the latter was accused of receiving payolas from high-profile inmates inside the New Bilibid Prison.
Ragos was earlier tagged as accused in the case, but the prosecution moved to drop him after he executed a supplemental affidavit detailing sources of money he supposedly delivered to De Lima, then justice chief, in 2012.
De Lima’s lawyer said that Ragos’ original affidavit never mentioned delivery of money to De Lima who is accused of alleged receiving P5 million on Nov. 24, 2012 and another P5 million on Dec. 15, 2012, from Bilibid inmates involved in illegal drug trading. The money was said to be received by Ragos and later handed to Dayan.
“To recall, this allegation only cropped up after Ragos was detained and prior to the amendment of the Original Information, which resulted in his removal as an accused in this case,” the motion read.
De Lima’s lawyer pointed out that Ragos had “progressive clearer details” as he kept remembering and adding while allegations progressed from the congressional hearing to criminal charge. “[I]t is apparent that he has been progressively tailor-fitting his testimony in order to obtain the most beneficial terms in his favor,” the motion further read.
They then moved that the court reconsider the denial of their bid “and, in so doing, redeem the integrity of the proceedings.”
De Lima’s team is set to present defense evidence on March 5, 2021.
Meanwhile, the senator is set to attend the hearing on her third drug case, pending before the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 265 later Tuesday.
Sen. Leila de Lima on Saturday marked the first year of her detention at the Philippine National Police detention center in Quezon City.
Ahead of the anniversary of her arrest, the Senate minority and various rights groups called on the Philippine government to release her immediately.
The Department of Justice initially charged De Lima for drug trading, but over the months, the state prosecutors filed motions to amend the charges and indict the senator on conspiracy to commit drug trading instead.
De Lima is known as one of the most outspoken critics of President Rodrigio Duterte's administration.
Detained former Sen. Leila De Lima expresses dismay over the Solicitor General's petition for certiorari agains her acquittal.
"I am, of course, greatly dismayed by the OSG's move in elevating to the CA the judgment of my acquittal in one of my 3 trumped-up drug cases," De Lima says in a dispatch.
"An acquittal is an acquittal, a final and conclusive disposition of the merits of the case which, under firmly settled case law, is no longer appealable, save for very exceptional grounds or circumstances, none of which can be legitimately invoked to question the 12 May 2023 Decision of the RTC-Muntinlupa, Br. 205 exonerating me and my co-accused," she adds.
"What is exceptional here is the persistence of my persecutors to perpetuate this travesty of justice by keeping me incarcerated," the former senator and justice secretary concludes.
The remaining drug case against former Sen. Leila De Lima was raffled off to the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206, sala of Presiding Judge Gener M. Gito, her legal team says.
The remaining drug case against detained former senator Leila De Lima will be handled by Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Joseph Alcantara.
The case is re-raffled off to Court 26 after Judge Romeo Buenaventure inhibited himself two weeks ago.
De Lima is battling the drug case after years of being accused of receiving around P70 million from alleged illegal drug trade collection at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City from 2013 to 2015.
Council for People’s Development and Governance, a network of 60 non-governmental organizations, on Independence Day, called for the release of former Sen. Leila de Lima.
In a statement, CPDG has condemned the “injustices endured” by de Lima, including political prisoners and those behind bars waiting for their cases to be heard. This, they said, highlight “the disturbingly biased and problematic nature of the Philippine justice system -punishing mostly the powerless and targeted.”
“It is a critical juncture in our nation’s history, demanding that the Philippine government under [President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.] genuinely upholds his promises to rectify the prevailing ‘unfreedoms’ within our society,” they add.
Department of Justice prosecutors file an appeal on the Muntinlupa court’s dismissal of the conspiracy to commit drug charge against former Sen. Leila de Lima.
The prosecution filed a Motion for Reconsideration before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 that acquitted De Lima on May 12—clearing her of her second drug case.
They say in their appeal: “With all due respect, the Prosecution most respectfully moves for the reconsideration thereof on the ground that jurisprudence dictates and the circumstances of the instant case reveal that the subsequent recantation of the witness Ragos was not able to vitiate his original testimony given in open court.”
Prosecutors also argue “there are other pieces of evidence on record to prove all the elements of the crime charged, including the role played by both accused [De Lima and her ex-aide Ronnie Dayan] in the illegal drug trading inside the [Bilibid].” — Kristine Joy Patag
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