A Makati court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Cebuano businessman Peter Lim who was charged with conspiracy to trade in illegal drugs by the Justice department last week.
Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos of the Makati City RTC Branch 65 ordered the arrest of Lim and three other accused”•detained drug trader Kerwin Espinosa, state witness Marcelo Adorco and Rule Malindangan”•after the department filed a case against them for violating Republic Act 9165.
Government prosecutors on Monday asked the court to issue a hold-departure order against Lim, who has just returned following a trip abroad.
Espinosa is under the custody of the Witness Protection Program while also facing other drug cases before the Manila RTC, while Adorco is under the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. Malindangan remains at large.
“After a careful evaluation of the information and the supporting evidence, this Court finds that it has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the Information and that probable cause exist to hold accused… for trial,” the Makati court said in an order.
The court set the arraignment of the accused in a hearing on Aug. 28 at 1:30 am.
In a separate order, the court also set for hearing on Aug. 17 the Justice Department’s plea to issue a hold-departure order against Lim.
The department indicted Lim on Aug. 10 after finding probable cause in the complaint filed by the Philippine National Police, which was earlier dismissed by a previous panel of prosecutors.
The new panel, led by Senior Associate State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera cited as evidence Espinosa’s confession at the Senate”•the transcript of which was submitted to the investigating prosecutors for the new probe”•and Adorco’s positive identification of Lim.
The department cited as the most serious part of the allegation in the charge of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading the “agreement to trade in drugs.” It rejected Lim’s claim that he could not be held criminally liable in the absence of illegal drugs as evidence.
The panel also said Lim’s defense that he was not “Jaguar.” The businessman said he even presented himself before the National Bureau of Investigation earlier to clear his name.
An individual that goes by the name “Jaguar” is under the government’s narco list.