A lawyer for detained Senator Leila de Lima claimed that their camp had scored a ‘breakthrough’ in one of the three cases filed against the senator when prosecutors mentioned ‘shabu’ as the illegal drug that De Lima was accused of trading.
“This is the first time that they admitted na shabu raw ’yung dina-drug trade ni Senator De Lima,” Boni Tacardon, De Lima’s lawyer, said.
The prosecution blurted ‘shabu’ when they were asked by the judge at the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 206 on what drugs they were referring to in their charges against De Lima.
On Friday, De Lima’s camp on Friday filed a motion to quash the amended information after their motion for reconsideration was denied.
Earlier, the prosecution changed their criminal information from illegal drug trading to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading.
Upon filing the motion to quash, the judge asked De Lima’s camp to make a manifestation, which they used to pose the question that Tacardon said they have always been asking the prosecution: Where and what are the drugs involved in the case?
“Si judge mismo, tinanong ang prosecution, drugs na sinasabi niyo dito. ’Yung prosecution, di nakasagot agad, at bigla niyang sinabi, ‘shabu,’” De Lima’s lawyer said.
“We’re expecting them to be consistent with their position. It is very important because they have to prove the existence of the drugs.”
The judge gave the prosecution five days to comment on the motion to quash, and gave De Lima’s lawyers five days after that to file their reply.
De Lima won’t be formally read the charges at Branch 206 until June 22; the same procedure at Branch 205 was moved to August 10, according to her media relations officer.
The judge also ordered De Lima to submit her itinerary for June 3. De Lima had asked to be granted a furlough on that day to attend her son’s law school graduation.
The judge said the prosecution also has to comment on De Lima’s pleading on the request for furlough within five days, Tacardon said.
Security was once again tight during the court proceedings on Friday morning.
De Lima, meanwhile, again insisted that President Rodrigo Duterte is “clearly unfit” to hold the highest position in the land and called on him to resign.
“Dapat naman talagang mag-resign. Hindi karapat-dapat. He is clearly unfit to be President. So unfit,” she told the media.
De Lima, a fierce critic of the president, made the statement following a similar statement of ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno asking the president to resign.
De Lima’s arraignments were once again rescheduled for next Friday. The courts handling the three cases had approved DoJ’s amended information, changing it from illegal drug trading to conspiracy to trade illegal drugs.
The courts also denied De Lima’s motion for reconsideration against the amended information, so the senator’s lawyers filed a motion to quash, which caused the reset of the schedule.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department said that De Lima’s co-accused, drug convict Jaybee Sebastian, will plead guilty to one count of drug trading.
“There was already a manifestation from his lawyer that he is willing to enter a plea of guilty,” DoJ Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Ramonsito Ocampo said.
Sebastian and De Lima were both named in Criminal Case No. 17-167 being handled by Branch 206 under newly-assigned Judge Lorna Navarro-Domingo. It is one of the 3 counts of drug trading the senator is facing.
Under the case, De Lima was accused of conspiring – with Sebastian, former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Jesus Bucayu, Bucayu’s former staff Wilfredo Elli, Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s former security aide Joenel Sanchez, and a certain nephew Jad de Vera – to trade drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison to allegedly raise funds for her 2016 senatorial bid.
Tacardon, however, downplayed the impact of Sebastian’s guilty plea, saying that because it’s a capital offense, the DOJ will still be required to present evidence against the convict.
De Lima camp’s had challenged the DOJ to present physical evidence against the senator, and not just testimonies of drug convicts.
“From the start alam naman nating inosente eh, kahit na sino pa ang umamin diyan, kung inosente naman talaga siya, hindi kami maaapektuhan. For sure, hindi naman niyan madadala ang depensa ni Senator De Lima,” Tacardon said.
Sebastian was the only drug convict retained in the charges, after the DOJ cleared the rest to use them as state witnesses. Former BuCor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos has also been cleared and discharged as state witness.
Tacardon said they want Sebastian be tried separately if and when he pleads guilty, but the DOJ had said that it wants to the trial to be tried simultaneously.
“We move that the trial of Sebastian and De Lima being tried by Branch 206 be tried simultaneously, not separately,” Ocampo said.
But how the trial will be held will depend on the strategy for both sides, especially for the senator.
If Sebastian is tried, he will be tried inside Bilibid, not Muntinlupa RTC.
But if the court decides to be economical with its resources, a simultaneous trial may mean De Lima would be required to go inside Bilibid for the trial – something that De Lima’s camp will try to avoid.