MANILA – The Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Friday issued a hold departure order against businessman and drug suspect Peter Lim.
Judge Gina Babat-Palamos of RTC Branch 65 said the order will prevent Lim from going out of the country in case he tries to escape his drug cases.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) – which filed cases against Lim – requested the hold order after it issued an arrest warrant against Lim.
The DOJ said Lim violated Section 26 of Republic Act (RA) 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The Bureau of Immigration said Lim remains in the country but the Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation have yet to arrest him.
The case against Lim and his co-respondents stemmed from charges that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed at the DOJ for their alleged involvement in the drug trade.
Earlier, a DOJ panel dismissed the charges against Lim and the other respondents for lack of evidence but it was reversed by a new panel also from DOJ.
On July 20, the Justice department charged Kerwin Espinosa, Marcelo Adorco, Ruel Malindagan, Peter Co, and Lovely Impal before the Makati City RTC after founding that there is probable cause that they violated RA 9165.
The DOJ panel filed a separate complaint against Lim before the Makati City RTC last week.
Lim has a pending petition before Supreme Court to halt the reinvestigation being done by the new DOJ panel.
Aside from Lim, Espinosa, Adorco and Malindagan were also listed in the arrest warrant that the DOJ issued last Tuesday.
The DOJ has found probable cause to hold the four for trial with the arraignment scheduled on Aug. 28./PN
