President not interfering with drug case, will let justice run its course
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said he will not intervene in the case of former senator Leila de Lima, who is currently detained on drug trafficking charges.
“I think urging prosecutors to do one thing or another is interfering,” Marcos said in reaction to Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman’s statement that the President could order prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop the case against De Lima.
Meanwhile, De Lima called on Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to “make justice work again” in the country following his son’s arrest for a drug-related offense.
“Like everyone else, whether he is the son of the Justice Secretary or not, Juanito Jose Remulla is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” De Lima said in a statement.
“This same cardinal presumption is what should have been upheld for those who have been judged only too swiftly in the past (Duterte) administration’s drug war and who were not given the chance to defend themselves before the courts,” she added.
This developed as six United States lawmakers led by Senator Edward J. Markey urged the Marcos administration to review the drug charges and release the former senator “from her unjust detention.”
In a letter to Remulla dated October 12, Markey, along with US Senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy, and Congress members Aumua Amata Radewagen, Alan Lowenthal, and Donald Beyer Jr., expressed “deep concern” over De Lima’s “continued unjust imprisonment.”
The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, said at the Pandesal Forum that de Lima deserves to have a longer medical furlough and speedy justice, adding that she had been working since July on getting the furlough, knowing her illnesses.
Remulla, according to the senator, was “okay” with her proposal, days after an alleged Abu Sayaff member took De Lima hostage inside the heavily-guarded Philippine National Police Custodial Center.
“To my mind, we should talk to the DOJ… and I hope that Secretary Boying (Remulla) for humanitarian reasons will listen to our plea, that senator De Lima be considered for extended medical furlough. Given that she had been granted that before,” Sen. Marcos added.
De Lima has been detained since February 2017 due to allegations that, while serving as Justice Secretary under the Aquino III administration, she conspired to commit illegal drug trading with corrections officials and inmates.
“Sec. Remulla, for the sake of your son, for my sake, and [for] thethousands killed (in the illegal drug war) whose families are still grieving, make justice work again in this country,” the ex-senator said.
Lagman, a leading opposition lawmaker, said the President has two legal options—to order prosecutors to dismiss the charges instigated by then-President Rodrigo Duterte or to stop opposing De Lima’s petition for bail.
The US lawmakers cited the foiled attempt to hold De Lima hostage last Sunday, which they said further highlights the need for the administration to revisit the former senator’s case “rather than simply transfer her to another detention site.”
“By reviewing Senator De Lima’s case, dropping the charges against her, and bringing those responsible for her unjust detention to account, you and President Marcos Jr. can turn the page on [former] President Duterte’s abuses and demonstrate your commitment to the rule of law in the Philippines,” they said.
De Lima on Thursday said that while she would never ask Mr. Marcos to interfere with the courts, the President could order the DOJ to stop blocking the testimony of witnesses who recanted their testimony against her.
The ex-senator was briefly held hostage by an inmate during an attempted breakout at the PNP Custodial Center in Quezon City earlier this week.
“I have said, we are very, very clear that we have three departments of government and I am sure we should not [interfere and] … let it decide,” the President told reporters.
“We are not doubting the (court) process. I think the process is there, we are continuing to monitor what is going on,” he also said.
Earlier, the President offered de Lima the option of being transferred to another detention facility, but she said she feels safer in the custodial facility.
“I spoke to her Sunday morning, I asked Secretary Benhur Abalos to go and to find out that everything was okay, that she was okay,” Mr. Marcos said.
“So, she never asked me to do anything, that’s what she tweeted, what she tweeted, that’s the extent of it, that’s the extent of our discussion with the former senator,” the President added.
The American solons also called for the conduct of an “independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances that led members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other witnesses to make false claims against Senator De Lima.”
According to them, the probe should similarly include “identifying any members of the Duterte administration who may have been involved, and to hold those individuals to account.”
While they said the ongoing case against De Lima is “especially troubling,” they remained hopeful that the Marcos administration will steer the case in a different direction, citing separate August meetings of a Markey-led US congressional delegation in the country with both the President and De Lima.
“We were—and are—optimistic that developments such as these signal a shift under President Marcos Jr.’s leadership away from the types of
human rights abuses—including a violent and ineffective ‘war against drugs’—directed and carried out under former President Rodrigo
Duterte,” they noted.
The US solons also sought Remulla to continue working with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to enact recommendations and address concerns regarding its report on the country last September.
Likewise, they also pushed for the Philippines’ Interagency Review Panel to “accelerate its review of killings related to the Duterte government’s anti-drug operations.”
The US legislators then noted that the DOJ, led by Remulla, “should take appropriate action based on the findings, including through internal administrative and criminal processes, and provide redress for victims.”
“Finally, we urge the passage of [a] proposed legislation that protects human defenders,” they added.
De Lima returned to her cell Thursday night after a stay at the PNP General Hospital following Sunday’s hostage-taking incident.
On Sunday, three prisoners—Arnel Cabintoy, Idang Susukan, and Feliciano Sulayao Jr.—tried to escape and stabbed Police Cpl. Roger Agustin, who was serving their food.
Cabintoy and Susukan were shot dead but Sulayao ran and took De Lima hostage.
Headquarters Support Service Director Police Colonel Mark Pespes shot him dead, however.
On Friday, Senator Imee Marcos appealed to the DOJ to consider granting an extended medical furlough at home to De Lima.