MANILA – The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court committed a grave error when it dismissed the third and remaining drug case of former senator Leila de Lima, according to a former spokesperson of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte.
Atty. Salvador Panelo said the court considered the recantation of the testimonies against de Lima even though there is no evidence that the witnesses made their previous statements under duress or coercion, threats, or psychological pressure.
“No such evidence was presented before the court hence the previous testimonies of the recanting witnesses against de Lima should have not been disregarded,” Panelo said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Moreover, there was credible evidence extant on the record for a conviction. The dismissal of the drug case therefore was in grave error it being contrary to the evidence and jurisprudence,” he added.
The Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 206 on Monday granted de Lima’s demurrer to evidence, effectively dismissing her third and final drug case, after the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of all accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Aside from de Lima, also acquitted were former Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Bucayu, de Lima’s former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Jad Dera.
Panelo also said de Lima’s seven-year jail time cannot be considered an injustice but “a punishment for her persecution of former President Rodrigo Duterte when he was mayor of Davao City.”
Panelo said de Lima, when she was the head of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the secretary of Department of Justice (DOJ), supposedly falsely accused Duterte over extrajudicial killings in the city.
“The former senator should now move on and learn from the lessons of the past,” Panelo said./PN
