2nd drug case vs De Lima now up for decision — lawyer
MANILA, Philippines — A Muntinlupa court has wrapped up its hearings on the second drug case that former Sen. Leila de Lima is facing, her lawyer said Monday.
With this, the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 204 may promulgate its ruling on May 12, lawyer Boni Tacardon said on Monday.
“We will now know if [former] Sen. Leila De Lima is really innocent, and we are asking for prayers from our countrymen. Let us pray for [De Lima] that the case against her may be dismissed,” the lawyer added in Filipino.
In this specific case, De Lima was accused of receiving money, which supposedly came from the illegal drug trading inside the New Bilibid Prison, from former corrections chief Rafael Ragos.
But Ragos last year recanted his allegations and said there is no truth to his earlier testimony that he received P5 million on Nov. 24, 2012 and another P5 million on Dec. 15, 2012, from New Bilibid Prison inmates involved in illegal drug trading, which he later handed to Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s former aide and co-accused in this case.
De Lima has already been acquitted in one case. She has two pending charges, with one now up for decision and another before Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256 with a pending petition for bail.
If De Lima will be allowed to post bail on her third case, she may walk free from pre-trial detention on May 12 — although she would have to return to court for trial for her third case.
“If Criminal Case No. 165 (pending before Branch 204) will be dismissed and [De Lima’s] petition for bail is granted, we will all fetch [De Lima] from Camp Crame to go out,” Tacradon said.
De Lima has been detained since February 2017 on charges she has long been insisting are fabricated.
The Palace as well as the DOJ have stood firm that the cases are valid.
- Latest
- Trending
