FORMER senator and justice secretary Leila de Lima is now cleared of the three drug charges filed against her during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 206 Presiding Judge Gener Gito yesterday granted the demurrer to evidence filed by De Lima’s camp as he ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of De Lima and her co-accused in the last drug-related case.
Gito dismissed the case filed by the Department of Justice under Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for “failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of all the accused beyond reasonable doubt.”
Gito’s decision, according to De Lima’s lead counsel Boni Tacardon, means that the former lawmaker is now acquitted in all the three cases for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading filed by Duterte’s henchmen.
“Demurrer is granted,” De Lima’s lead counsel Boni Tacardon said after the hearing ended Monday afternoon.
Gito is the same judge that granted De Lima’s bail application in 2023, which effectively set her free almost seven years in detention.
In allowing her to post bail then, Gito cited the lack of substantial evidence presented by the prosecution, noting that De Lima’s guilt was not sufficiently established.
Gito also said the prosecution’s witnesses were not able to establish that there existed a conspiracy among the accused to commit illegal drug trading.
In yesterday’s ruling, Gito also said the prosecution failed to prove De Lima’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, which is a must for conviction in criminal cases.
“Assessing the totality of the evidence presented by the prosecution, the Court is of the firm resolve and so holds that the prosecution was not able to prove the guilt of all accused beyond reasonable doubt,” the court said in its resolution.
Aside from De Lima, also acquitted were her co-accused namely, former Bureau of Corrections OIC Franklin Jesus Bucayu, Ronnie Dayan, Jose Adrian Tiamson Dera and Joenel Sanchez.
De Lima earlier won two of the three drug cases lodged against her before two other branches of the Muntinlupa RTC, one before Branch 205 through a demurrer of evidence in February 2021, and the other before Branch 204 through lack of merit of the prosecution’s case in May last year.
The third and last case heard by Gito’s sala alleged that De Lima allegedly accepted bribe money from convicted drug lords at the New Bilibid Prison during her term as justice secretary to help finance her senatorial campaign.
‘SLEEP MORE SOUNDLY’
Speaking to reporters after the court hearing, De Lima said it was “very liberating” that the court granted her demurrer to evidence on her third and last drug case.
She said the tables have now been turned as it is Duterte who now has to face his “wrongdoings” related to bloody war on drugs.
“Ito ang message ko sa dating pangulo, kay Ginoong Duterte: Kayo ngayon ang mananagot sa mga kasalanan niyo sa taongbayan. Isa lang akong biktima. Libu-libong mga Pilipino ang pinaslang nila noong nakaraaang madugo at pekeng war on drugs (This is my message to the former president, Mr. Duterte. You will now be accountable for your sins against the people. I am only but one victim. Thousands were killed in your bloody and fake war on drugs),” De Lima said.
She said her legal team is now studying the filing of counter-charges against Duterte.
De Lima also said she was filled with joy and will be able to sleep more soundly now that she has been cleared by the court.
“Mas mapapanatag at makakatulog na ako nang mas maluwag. With this grant of our demurrer by the court, which is tantamount to an acquittal, that means I am now completely free and vindicated. It’s very liberating. All these criminal cases are gone that’s why I am so happy today,” De Lima said.
She said she never wavered in her belief that she will be eventually be declared innocent of all the charges even when she was still in detention at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
“I respected the rule of law despite the pain and the injustice of it all. I confronted the charges head on and I went through and endured the whole process,” she said.
ICC PROBE
De Lima said she will help with the investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the alleged crimes against humanity committed by Duterte in connection with his bloody anti-drug crackdown.
She said Duterte should be made to answer for the excesses committed in the name of his anti-drug war.
“Kaya nga yung naging mensahe ko kay Ginoong Duterte, siya ngayon ang mananagot, kailangan panagutin dahil wala namang nangyayari dito sa Pilipinas. Kaunting-kaunti lang yung napo-prosecute at nako-convict (That is my message to Mr. Duterte, that he should be held and must be held accountable because there is no progress in the Philippines. Very few are prosecuted and convicted),” she said.
The DOJ has yet to issue a statement but State Prosecutor Ramoncito Ocampo told the media in a chance interview that they will review if they will file a motion for reconsideration of Gito’s ruling.
“It is still premature on our part, we have still yet to read the decision, but it is still to be discussed,” Ocampo said, adding: “We have to discuss whether or not we will file a motion for reconsideration or any other legal remedy that may be warranted.”
Another prosecutor Darwin Canete said they are happy for De Lima considering she was their former boss.
“We are also happy for the good senator because once upon a time she was our former boss and we do not lose our respect even though we are on the other side of the fence,” Canete said.
Aguirre issued a short statement, too: “That (acquittal) has been expected for a long time. As I said before, I am happy for this development as she had suffered enough already.”
QC COURT
Meanwhile, Branch 76 of the Quezon City RTC also cleared De Lima in her two disobedience cases as it granted her petition for certiorari — which is used to review another court’s decision — against the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court, which earlier junked her motion to dismiss the said cases.
The disobedience cases stemmed from the 2016 investigation by the House of Representatives on the alleged drug trading inside the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.
The case alleged that De Lima induced Dayan to ignore or disobey the subpoena demanding him to appear before the House during its inquiry into the allegations against De Lima.
In junking the disobedience case, Branch 76 Presiding Judge Renato Pambid faulted the prosecution for the delay, saying it has gone beyond the 180 trial says as mandated by Republic Act 8493 or the Speedy Trial Act of 1984.
Pambid said the delay was caused by the “inexcusable absences” and “requests for resetting” by the prosecution.
This despite the fact, he added, that the case does not appear too complicated requiring voluminous pieces of evidence and many witnesses.
‘TRUTH’
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said the dismissal of De Lima’s third and last case “proves that justice is based on truth and evidence, not on baseless charges and political motivations.”
“She has faced public ridicule and injustices, yet she remained steadfast in her commitment on truth and justice,” Hontiveros said in a statement, adding that the opposition would now “focus our attention on those who have wrongly accused her.”
“False charges compromise not only the accused’s reputation, but also the integrity of our legal system (as well). We call upon the authorities to pursue and hold accountable those who have perpetuated thse unfounded allegations,” she said.
“Justice must be served and those who have wronged her and our legal system must face the consequences of their actions,” she also said.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, president of the opposition Liberal Party, said: Justice finally prevails for former Sen. Leila de Lima.”
“Her innocence has been upheld. Her indomitable spirit has conquered the vileness of malicious prosecution. But justice inordinately delayed brutalizes the rule of law,” said the opposition leader.
Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), a member of the militant Makabayan bloc, also lauded the dismissal of all the remaining drug charges against De Lima, saying the acquittal “is long overdue and an important development in the pursuit of justice.”
“The fight for justice does not end here. We must hold accountable those responsible for unjust incarceration and the trumped-up charges against former Sen. De Lima, especially former President Duterte,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Aquino family lauded De Lima’s acquittal as it credited her legal victory to a working democratic system in the country.
They, however, stressed that “democracy must constantly be defended from malicious self-interest.”
In a statement, uploaded in the Noynoy Aquino Facebook page, the family of the late president Benigno Simeon Aquino III said they are one with the nation in celebrating the long-overdue freedom of De Lima.
It also said that had the late President been alive, he would have been relieved that his former justice secretary had been vindicated.
“While her victory is a credit to our democratic system and its guarantee of due process, her incarceration for over seven years on the basis of trumped-up charges reminds us that democracy must constantly be defended from malicious self-interest… We are grateful for Sen. De Lima’s steadfast commitment to her principles and her country, and we support her in her pursuit of justice for herself and for every Filipino,” the statement added.
The Aquino family yesterday remembered the late president on his third death anniversary through a mass held at the Manila Memorial Park that was attended by relatives, friends and supporters of the Aquinos.
De Lima, who was also present, said it was her first time attending the death anniversary of Aquino since she had been in jail over the past years. She said that she was not even aware that Aquino was sick during the time that he had visited her while she was in detention.
REMEMBERING NOYNOY
Kiko Dee, nephew of the former president and deputy executive director of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF), said the phrase “right makes might” apply to many of the works and accomplishments under his uncle’s administration.
Dee said it was often used in the Philippines’ rights over the West Philippine Sea wherein “rather than submitting to those with greater power, Tito Noy used the justness of the Philippine cause to improve our position, ultimately resulting in the 2016 arbitral ruling that continues to be vital in asserting our rights today”.
He said it also applied to Aquino’s pursuit of peace that resulted in the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro; the “walang kurap, walang mahirap” mantra of the Aquino administration that created an atmosphere of good governance that allowed our economy to flourish; and even De Lima’s struggle for justice.
“We generally do our best to choose right over wrong in our lives. But more than that, may we find in Tito Noy’s example our own ways to turn that right into might in the service or our fellow Filipinos,” Dee said.
Aquino, son of the late President Corazon Aquino and slain senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., died on June 24, 2021 due to renal disease secondary to diabetes. — With Raymond Africa, Wendell Vigilia and Jocelyn Montemayor
