A MUNTINLUPA court has thrown out one of three drug cases against Sen. Leila de Lima, but the senator will remain in jail after she failed to secure the dismissal of the two other cases pending against her.
In a 41-page resolution, the Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205 granted the motion for demurrer to evidence filed by de Lima, which sought the dismissal of the drug case for insufficiency of evidence.
De Lima’s coaccused Jose Adrian Dera, who was identified by the Department of Justice as de Lima’s nephew, also filed a motion a demurrer to evidence, which was denied by the court.
However, the trial court said dera’s evidence of guilt “is not strong,” and thus granted his petition for bail. The trial court directed Dera to post a bail bond in the amount of P500,000.
“Wherefore, the demurrer to evidence filed by accused Leila de Lima y Magistrado is hereby granted. The petition for bail is rendered moot and academic as the grant of a demurrer is tantamount to her acquittal,” Judge Liezel Aquiatan said in her resolution.
In the said drug case, de Lima and Dera were accused of benefiting from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa during her term as justice secretary.
Based on the complaint, Dera demanded money and vehicles from drug convict Peter Go for the senatorial bid of de Lima in the May 2016 elections.
However, the trial court held that the prosecution failed to establish a conspiracy between de Lima and Dera to benefit from the illegal drug trade inside the NBP.
“The contention of the prosecution that the relationship of Dera and de Lima is immaterial deserves scant consideration as the prosecution in fact asserts that the money received by Dera from Peter Co was delivered to de Lima and that Dera acted on behalf of de Lima,” the resolution stated.
“But no link between the two accused was proven, and thus, it cannot be concluded that they agreed to engage in illegal drug trading,” the trial court declared.
In the absence of conspiracy, the court said Dera “is responsible for the consequences of his act.”
De Lima-Dayan case
Meanwhile, the same court denied de Lima’s demurrer to evidence in connection with another drug case where her alleged former lover Ronnie Dayan was named as her coaccused.
“Wherefore, the separate demurrer to evidence of accused Leila de Lima and Ronnie Dayan are both denied,” the court said in a 35-page resolution. It also denied De Lima and Dayan’s petition for bail. Dayan was accused of collecting money from convicted drug dealers inside the NBP on behalf of de Lima.
Meanwhile, a government prosecution witness has testified before the Muntinlupa RTC that he witnessed drug lord Jaybee Sebastian hand over to de Lima P1.4 million in drug money at the former’s so-called “Bahay na Bato” inside the NBP sometime in 2014.
At Tuesday’s continuation of the hearing of the drug trading cases against de Lima and others pending before the Muntinlupa City RTC, Branch 256, the Department of Justice prosecutors presented NBP inmate Joel Capones. He stated under oath that in December 2013, fellow NBP inmate Sebastian asked him to engage in illegal drug trading inside and out of the NBP in order to raise funds to support de Lima’s senatorial bid.
Capones admitted that he indeed transacted illegal drugs or shabu to heed Sebastian’s directive because he was convinced and impressed with the latter’s apparent strong influence with the previous administration, particularly with de Lima.
In March 2014, during the anniversary of the Commando Sigue-Sigue organization, Capones said he delivered the amount of P1.4 million to Sebastian as quota payment of the shabu drugs that he sold.
Capones claimed he personally witnessed Sebastian fork over to de Lima the P1.4 million that he delivered to the alleged drug lord.
The cross examination of Capones will continue on February 23.
De Lima has denied any involvement in the illegal drug trade inside the NBP during her term.
She claimed that the charges and her imprisonment were politically motivated, she being a staunch critic of President Duterte.
Read full article on BusinessMirror
