THE camp of detained former senator Leila de Lima yesterday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) anew to withdraw the drug-related cases that the department filed against her before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court during the Duterte administration.
Lawyer Dino De Leon made the call after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the DOJ will not pose any objection or opposition if De Lima’s camp file a habeas corpus plea to question the basis of the charges against her or to seek bail for her temporary liberty.
Remulla said, though, that the final decision lies with the Muntinlupa court.
But De Leon said that while Remulla’s statement is a welcome development, the DOJ is not powerless on the issue as it can simply drop the charges instead of waiting for the detained former senator to file a petition before the court.
De Leon said the prosecution has insufficient evidence to obtain a guilty verdict against the former senator.
De Lima has repeatedly said the cases are politically motivated.
“Kahit naman nasa korte, they can do their fair share to make sure that this case will be tried in a faster manner. They can actually file their own withdrawal if they honestly believe that they don’t have a case against former senator Leila De Lima,” De Leon told News5 in an interview.
De Leon said the recantation of prosecution witnesses, including former Bureau of Corrections acting chief Rafael Ragos, as well as the lack of illegal drugs and money trail have rendered the DOJ case against De Lima meaningless.
In his recantation, Ragos said he was coerced by former DOJ chief Vitaliano Aguirre II to implicate De Lima in the illegal drugs trade inside the national penitentiary, a claim which Aguirre has denied.
De Leon added the recantations are sufficient reasons for the DOJ to withdraw the charges.
“In the criminal case, where Rafael Ragos testified, the witness withdrew his testimonies, and recanted all his accusations against former senator de Lima,” he said.
De Lima has been in detention at the Philippine Custodial Center in Camp Crame since 2017.
The former senator said she earned the ire of former president Rodrigo Duterte after she investigated the alleged death squad executions in Davao City when the latter was still city mayor and when she probed the alleged human rights abuses under his administration.
One of the drug charges against her and co-accused Jose Adrian Dera was junked by Judge Liezel Aquiatan of the Muntinlupa City Branch 205 in February 2021.
De Leon said that for now, they will wait for the court to decide on their pending bail petition before filing a motion for habeas corpus.
“We actually have a motion to revive bail there or actually praying for outright dismissal of the case,” De Leon said.
The possibility of De Lima filing a habeas corpus plea gained traction after Gigi Reyes, the former chief of staff of former senator and now presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, managed to win temporary liberty after several years of detention after the Supreme Court granted her plea.
The High Court said Reyes’ constitutional right to a speedy resolution of the pork barrel scam cases she is charged with was violated.
