House Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima has welcomed the decision of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204 to grant the withdrawal of the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration on her last illegal drugs case.
Presiding Judge Abraham Alcantara, in a decision dated Sept. 30, said: “With the withdrawal of the motion for reconsideration, this case is hereby deemed closed and terminated.”
The ruling added that “every acquittal becomes final immediately upon promulgation and cannot be recalled for correction or amendment.” Alcantara said granting the motion would have violated the Constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy since it would reopen the prosecution and subject the accused to a second trial despite their acquittal.
Prosecutors led by Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Bienvenido Ocampo earlier argued that the recantation of witness Rafael Ragos was not sufficient to invalidate his original testimony.
The case pertained to allegations of illegal drug trading at the New Bilibid Prison, where the former senator was accused of receiving ₱5 million on Nov. 24, 2012, and another ₱5 million on Dec. 15, 2012, from drug trafficking proceeds.
