De Lima’s lawyer Felimon Tacardo said the witness, retired police officer Brig. Gen. Jerry Valeroso, already submitted his Letter of Intent to Recant to Judge Gener Gito of Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206.
Valeroso was a former investigator of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).
Tacardo disclosed that Valeroso, in a letter to the court dated Dec. 18, 2023, said he decided to recant his testimony to “set free all accused who were wrongfully charged in court” and to “disclose the real truthfulness that the criminal complaints against accused are pure hearsay and full of lies.”
Valeroso earlier testified that he saw De Lima, when she was still Justice Secretary under the Aquino administration, attending the concert of convicted drug lord Herbert Colangco inside the New Bilibid Prison.
Valeroso also said he first considered recanting in early 2019 but he opted against it for fear for his life and the safety of his family.
De Lima, who is currently on bail, has been accused of benefiting from the illegal drug trade inside the NBP.
She has repeatedly denied the accusation, saying it was political persecution on the part of the Duterte administration.
De Lima was released from the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame on Nov. 13, ending six years of detention, after the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 granted her motion for reconsideration on her bail petition in her remaining drug case.
Judge Gito earlier ruled that the testimonies of the prosecution’s nine witnesses, including that of Valeroso’s, “were not able to clearly establish that there exists a conspiracy among them to commit illegal drug trading.”
As this developed, the Department of Justice opted to temporarily hold off the enforcement of a court order that directed the return to the New Bilibid Prison of 11 high-profile inmates who testified against De Lima in her drug cases.
Judge Gito earlier ordered inmates German L. Agojo, Tomas D. Donina, Jaime V. Patcho, Wu Tuan Yuan alias Peter Co, Engelberto Durano, Jerry Pepino, Hans Anton Tan, Herbert R. Colangco, Noel G. Martinez, Nonilo A. Arile, and Joel D. Capones.
DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV said the department is currently studying possible legal remedies to stop the court order to transfer the inmates detained at the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro.
“We will probably hold the transfer first pending any legal remedies that we may take because it’s difficult to transfer to NBP and, once we find a legal remedy, we will have to return them to Sablayan,” Clavano said.
“We are still looking at our legal remedies so that the 11 inmates remain in Sablayan,” he added.