Danny Pata
A Muntinlupa City court has acquitted detained former senator Leila de Lima of one of the two remaining drug cases filed against her that alleged she was involved in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison when she still headed the Department of Justice.
In his decision, Presiding Judge Abraham Alcantara of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204 absolved De Lima of drug charges on the grounds of reasonable doubt.
“It’s a glorious day. This is the beginning of my vindication,” said De Lima, 63, as police escorted her to a waiting bus after the verdict.
“May I say this to my oppressors: you can never crucify the truth.”
The acquittal came after the court found reasonable doubt that De Lima and Ronnie Dayan, her co-accused and former bodyguard, were involved in the illegal drug trade—a case brought against her by the Duterte administration.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the decision of the court to acquit de Lima, according to Salvador Panelo, presidential legal counsel during his administration.
Panelo said Duterte told him that as a lawyer he should abide by the court ruling on De Lima’s case, according to a GMA News “24 Oras” report.
Duterte also said he was not the one who started the case against the detained former senator, a staunch critic of his anti-illegal drugs campaign. The former chief executive said he never interfered with any decision of the executive departments in his administration.
The court stated that while the prosecution was able to establish the existence of rampant illegal drug trading at the New Bilibid Prison, the retraction of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Rafael Ragos cast reasonable doubt on De Lima and Dayan’s involvement in it.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla welcomed the court’s acquittal of De Lima, saying “the rule of law has prevailed, and it just points out to us that the independence of the judiciary is a basic foundation of our democratic system.”
“It’s good. It’s good for us. It just proves that things are working in our country,” Remulla said.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, reacting to the acquittal, said the country’s justice system is working.
De Lima, who has been detained in Camp Crame since February 2017, was accused of benefiting financially from the alleged illegal drug trade inside the NBP during her stint as Justice secretary to support her senatorial bid in 2016. She has consistently denied these allegations.
In May 2022, Ragos retracted his testimony against De Lima.
Ragos had earlier claimed that he and aide Jovencio Ablen Jr. delivered P5 million in proceeds from the illegal drug trade inside the NBP to De Lima’s house in Parañaque City in 2012.
The court noted that Ragos was the only one who had personal knowledge of the source of money.
“Under the circumstances of this case, the testimony of witness Ragos is necessary to sustain any possible conviction. Without his testimony, the crucial link to establish conspiracy is shrouded with reasonable doubt,” the judge ruled.
“Ultimately, the retraction created reasonable doubt which warrants the acquittal of both accused,” the trial court declared.
In a statement read by De Lima’s lawyer Filibon Tacardon, said she had no doubt that she would be acquitted in all cases filed against her by the Duterte administration.
“That’s already two cases down, and one more to go. I am of course happy that with this second acquittal in the three cases filed against me, my release from more than six years of persecution draws nearer,” she said.
The senator also extended her gratitude to those who expressed their support and prayed for her throughout the years.
“In the end, all of us who fought for justice won today, even though those abusing the country tried to crush and silence us,” De Lima said in a statement.
“By obtaining justice today, it is clear to me that this is not the end. My fight continues,” the former senator said.
Tacardon said De Lima shed tears upon hearing the court’s decision.
De Lima’s remaining case is pending at the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256, where she has sought to post bail and is awaiting the decision of the court.
In February 2021, the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 205 dismissed one of the three drug cases against De Lima, who has repeatedly denied the charges against her filed by the Duterte administration.
De Lima has been detained since February 2017 on charges she and human rights groups say were fabricated as payback for going after Duterte and his war on drugs that left thousands of Pinoys dead.
Despite the acquittal, she will remain in jail as her trial in the other criminal case continues. She has applied for bail and is awaiting a judge’s decision.
De Lima faces life in prison if convicted of the remaining charge.
She is accused of taking money from inmates inside the country’s largest prison in exchange for allowing them to sell drugs while justice secretary from 2010 to 2015 under then-leader Benigno Aquino III.
But the prosecution’s case has been falling apart, as two of their witnesses have died and a third charge against de Lima has been dismissed.
Multiple witnesses have recanted their testimonies, claiming they were coerced into making allegations.
“Vigilance in eradicating illegal drugs cannot come at the expense of disregarding the rule of law,” the court ruling said.
Amnesty International urged the government to hasten De Lima’s release and allow her to be reunited with her family, friends, and supporters after “six long years.”
“Today, truth reigned over fake news. Today, justice reigned over injustice,” De Lima’s youngest brother Vicente de Lima told reporters.
Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said the acquittal demonstrated “the bogus, harassing nature of the charges.”
A UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in 2018 that De Lima’s detention was “arbitrary given the absence of a legal basis” and that her right to a fair trial had not been “respected”.
Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s election, there have been renewed calls from diplomats and rights defenders for De Lima to be released.
Before her arrest in 2017, de Lima had spent a decade investigating “death squad” killings allegedly orchestrated by Duterte during his time as Davao City mayor and in the early days of his 2016-2022 presidency.
She conducted the probes first while serving as the nation’s human rights commissioner, then as Justice secretary in the Aquino administration.
De Lima won a Senate seat in 2016, becoming one of the body’s few opposition voices after Duterte’s landslide victory.
Duterte then accused her of running a drug trafficking ring.
The charges that followed were an act of “vengeance” by Duterte to silence her and warn others not to oppose him, De Lima said.
Campaigning from behind bars, De Lima made a failed bid for re-election to the Senate last year.
The lawyer and mother of two has been held in a compound for high-profile detainees, rather than in one of the Philippines’ overcrowded jails.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said that although the course was long, justice is finally prevailing.
“I am happy that my friend and colleague former senator Leila de Lima has been acquitted, and anticipate her full vindication and eventual liberty,” she said.
“The false narrative and web of lies that led to her imprisonment [are] finally being undone. The real crime has always been her arrest,” Hontiveros added. “She is owed a speedy acquittal from the final false charge against her after enduring so much for six long years.”
She said justice for De Lima will be completed when the sinister plot to put her in jail only for speaking out for the truth and welfare of our fellow Filipinos, is fully exposed.
Another former senator, Francis Pangilinan, said the acquittal was welcome, even though it comes after six years.
He said the dismissal of charges was “better late than never.”
The rights group Karapatan welcomed De Lima’s acquittal from one of the “malicious charges” against her and reiterated its call for the Muntinlupa court to grant her bail petition for release.
De Lima has been incarcerated at the PNP Custodian Center in Camp Crame for six years over what she branded as “political persecution” by the state.
The rights group also called to release all political prisoners like De Lima who have been “persecuted because of their work and beliefs on human rights and social justice.”
De Lima’s supporters in the House of Representatives also welcomed her acquittal.
“Justice is rendered, albeit late. After having been acquitted in two of the three contrived drug cases against her, senator Leila de Lima must be freed on bail in the last case still pending trial,” said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas echoed Lagman’s sentiment.
“We in Gabriela Women’s Party are elated to hear the news of former senator Leila de Lima’s acquittal in the second drug case by a Muntinlupa court – confirming what was clearly a legal fabrication to put her behind bars,” Brosas said.
“We hope that the third and last drug allegation against her will also be junked following this development to finally grant her freedom from six long years of detention and injustice. Likewise, we press on with the demand to free all female political prisoners who like De Lima had been slapped with trumped up charges,” she added.
The European Union congratulated De Lima on her acquittal.
“The European Union is a longstanding partner of the justice sector in the Philippines, and we respect the independence of the judiciary. The EU has been following closely the proceedings against the former senator,” EU representative Luc Veron said in a statement.
“Only recently, members of the European Parliament and the EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore have visited senator De Lima in her detention center…. We hope for a quick resolution of the remaining case against the former senator, while ensuring the highest standards of rule of law and human rights. We are looking forward to a quick decision on De Lima’s motion for bail,” it added. — With AFP
