DETAINED Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Monday pleaded with the Supreme Court (SC) to grant her petition seeking to nullify the arrest warrant issued against her by a court in Muntinlupa City in connection with the illegal drug-trafficking charges filed against her and to order her immediate release from detention.
In a 64-page memorandum, de Lima, through her lawyer, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, reiterated that her arrest and subsequent detention should be nullified for being in violation of her right to due process.
Hilbay said de Lima’s right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against her was violated when she was arrested and detained for drug trafficking, although the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) manifested before the SC that her actual crime is mere conspiracy to commit drug trading.
Hilbay noted that the OSG’s manifestation contradicts the information that was actually filed against her client before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Muntinlupa, which was illegal-drugs trading.
“The postfiling alteration of the charge from illegal-drugs trading to conspiracy to commit illegal-drugs trading was resorted to because the records and the evidence lack the corpus delicti, i.e., the dangerous drugs traded—the single most important object evidence in prosecutions in violations under Section 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act,” the memorandum read.
“The amendment through manifestation only highlights the Department of Justice’s and the OSG’s postarrest-agreement about the nature of the charge against petitioner. With all due respect, it is the Honorable Court’s duty to invalidate this unprecedented state-sponsored lawlessness,” it added.
The senator added that the allegations and the facts presented in the information and in the DOJ joint resolution, which found probable cause to indict her for illegal-drugs trade inside the New Bilibid Prison during her term as justice secretary, do not allege the corpus delicti of illegal-drugs trading.
“Petitioner was charged, arrested and continued to be detained for the wrong crime. The government needs to present the dangerous drugs as corpus delicti [evidence],” the memorandum stated.
“This case reveals a clear pattern of persecution, not prosecution,” it added.
De Lima’s camp also insisted it is the Sandiganbayan that has jurisdiction over the drug complaint filed against her and not the RTC in Muntinlupa City.
In addition, de Lima said Judge Juanita Guerrero of Branch 204 of the RTC in Muntinlupa committed grave abuse of discretion in finding probable cause in issuing a warrant of arrest against her.
De Lima noted that Guerrero issued the arrest warrant on February 23, despite the pendency of her motion to quash the information filed against her on the ground of the RTC’s lack of jurisdiction.
She argued it is the Sandiganbayan that exclusively hears the criminal case of a public official with a minimum Salary Grade of 27, such as the DOJ secretary.
The petitioner also justified her decision to immediately elevate the matter before the Court, despite the pendency of her motion to quash the information before the RTC in Muntinlupa.
She said the policy on hierarchy of courts is “not an iron-clad rule” and “not inflexible” and the “Supreme Court has full discretionary power to take cognizance of certiorari actions filed directly with it for exceptionally compelling reasons”.
“The instant petition is a matter of national interest and has serious implications, given the questions involved, which were triggered by the remarkably unusual positions taken by the legal departments of the government,” she stressed.
“The instant petition clearly involves questions of law, the resolution of which will not only affect petitioner, but all citizens in the country,” she added.
In its complaint, the DOJ alleged de Lima received around P10 million in drug payoffs from November 2012 to early 2013 through her coaccused, former Bureau of Corrections Officer in Charge Rafael Ragos.
Ragos said he delivered the money to de Lima’s residence in Parañaque City, where it received by her former driver Ronnie Dayan.
Dayan is also a co-accused of de Lima in the case.
The Court earlier held oral arguments on de Lima’s petitions and directed the parties to submit their respective memoranda before it comes out with a ruling on the issue.
1 comment
No. . We are a lot safer and quiet with you in jail where you belong.