THE Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition of Senator Leila de Lima seeking her release from detention following her indictment on drug trafficking charges.
In a 92-page memorandum, Solicitor General Jose Calida also debunked De Lima’s allegation she was being politically persecuted supposedly for being a staunch critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
The chief state lawyer argued that such argument was misplaced and should not be given weight by the high court.
“It does not likewise help De Lima to allege political persecution to justify the present petition. The writs of certiorari and prohibition are directed against Judge Guerrero. Judge Guerrero does not belong to the executive branch, from which the political persecution is alleged to emanate,” the Solicitor General stressed.
Calida also justified his presence during the earlier preliminary investigation on the drug trafficking charges against De Lima in the Department of Justice, which was questioned during oral arguments as possible proof of persecution against the senator.
Invoking his office’s role as tribune of the people, the Solicitor Geneal emphasized that the law authorized him to “act and represent the Republic and/or the people before any court, tribunal, body or commission in any matter, action or proceeding which, in his opinion, affects the welfare of the people as the ends of justice may require.”
“The Solicitor General was not there to influence the conduct of the preliminary investigation with the end in view of having De Lima indicted. If that were his intention, the Solicitor General should have joined the preliminary investigation from its commencement up to its termination,” he said.
According to him, there was nothing wrong with the support he gave the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, the group which filed the complaint against De Lima before the DoJ, being a former member of the group himself.
“The Solicitor General deemed it prudent at that time to provide much needed moral support to his former organization, the private complainant VACC, which was then pitted against De Lima, a powerful Senator of the Land,” the pleading stated.
