THE camp of former senator Leila De Lima yesterday said the Department of Justice (DOJ) can withdraw the drug charges that the government filed before the Muntinlupa regional trial court.
De Lima’s lawyer Filibon Tacardon said that “procedurally, the withdrawal of the drug charges is an executive act. So, to our mind, our position is yes, the Department of Justice can still initiate an action to withdraw the charges based on this recent development.”
Tacardon was referring to the recent decision of the Office of the Ombudsman junking the bribery raps slapped against De Lima and her former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan over the alleged P8 million she received from self-confessed drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said it is up to the Muntinlupa court to decide on the drug raps against De Lima.
“It’s up to the court to decide,” Remulla said.
We have already presented our evidence. It is former Senator de Lima’s turn to present hers,” lawyer Mico Clavano from the Office of the DOJ Secretary said.
Tacardon conceded that Remulla is correct when he said that it is now up to the Muntinlupa court to decide on what to do with De Lima’s cases.
“But my point is, they cannot just say that they cannot do it. They can still do it because it’s still within their mandate to ensure that they can only prosecute those who are really guilty,” Tacardon told ABS-CBN News Channel.
He said they have basis to prove that the case against the detained former lawmaker is weak considering that several witnesses, including Espinosa, Dayan and former Bureau of Corrections OIC Rafael Ragos have already retracted their testimonies linking the former senator to the illegal drugs trade when she was still the DOJ secretary.
“The recantation of Ragos, for example, is a basis for the withdrawal because the criminal complaint against former senator De Lima in Criminal Case No. 165 is hinged on his claim that he delivered money,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Tacardon said they are now in the process of asking the court to allow De Lima to post bail.
“We are confident that, based on the testimonies that we have received, we have enough basis to pursue an application for bail and we will definitely pursue it,” he added.
De Lima has been in detention since February 2017.
Remulla said several diplomats have approached him asking that the government drop the drug-related charges against De Lima.
“Dami na (There are so many), diplomats mostly. I just had to explain the situation to them,” Remulla said without disclosing the identities of the diplomats.
Several US senators led by Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy have earlier called for De Lima’s release from detention.
In 2019, Durbin and Leahy introduced an amendment to a budget bill that would deny US entry to any Philippine official involved in what they described as the “wrongful imprisonment” of the former senator.
The European Parliament have also previously adopted the call of a group of EU lawmakers to release De Lima.
